


Adrift - mha and atla

by EthanWithAnE



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender, 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-22
Updated: 2020-08-17
Packaged: 2021-03-04 17:30:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 25
Words: 24,010
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25440163
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EthanWithAnE/pseuds/EthanWithAnE
Summary: Todoroki and Midoriya find themselves in another universe in the midst of a war.
Comments: 4
Kudos: 214





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> You can also find this on Wattpad under the same name, I am the same person, its just easier to write on Wattpad than here

After the incident at USJ, the pupils at UA high were watched with a close eye, but after the school got attacked at a secluded camp, they were never let out of sight. This didn't stop the students getting involved with things that probably should be left to pros. Especially for Izuku Midoriya.

One of these incidents just so happened to be while him and Shoto Todoroki were walking back to the dorms after grabbing some soba.

There wasn't much time to react, but enough to get a civilian out of the way of the blast. On the other hand, there wasn't enough time to get themselves out of the way. The pair were hit by a blinding beam of light; they would have been knocked out cold if it weren't for Todoroki's fire.

The sensation after being hit with the beam was astounding, like they were being burned from the inside out, yet somehow as cold as ice. By the time it was over, Midoriya was shuddering uncontrollably.

They were crouched in the center of a dark throne room, adorned with red and black curtains. The throne was occupied by a stern looking man with high cheekbones and a long beard. 

Is this what you always feel like, Todoroki? Midoriya thought, adjusting back to normal.

"Where are we?" Izuku began to ask, but was interrupted by the man sat at the throne. 

"Who are you and what are you doing in my Palace?" Instinctively, the pair got into their fighting stances, Midoriya crackling with lightning. The man's eyes widened before he whispered something, barely audible. "Firebenders."

Todoroki glanced at Midoriya as if to ask what was happening. They were both the most confused they had ever been in their life.

"How are you firebending?" he practically shouted at them. 

They both guessed from his tone that this guy was no good for anyone, despite obviously being in a position of higher power. Todoroki had an off feeling about him, like he was familiar somehow. 

"Izuku," he whispered, stealing a glance the other way, "run." 

Without any time to think, Midoriya picked Todoroki up and sprinted down the long halls, all of them decorated similar to the throne room.

The pair nearly ran into a boy, similar age to them, passing around a corner. They stared at each other for a second before fleeing in opposite directions.

(A/n imagine the spiderman meme)

With the help of a few helpful guards, they managed to escape the building, which appeared to be a Palace of some sort. They emerged from a side door, spotting the person they had ran into seemingly moments earlier.

"Hey!" Midoriya called in an overly excited fashion.

"Hi? Who are you?" he replied. He was a little scrawny, about half a foot shorter than Todoroki. On the other hand, they both shared a scar of some sort over their left eyes and a relatively neutral, confused expression.

"I'm-" he paused for a second, wondering whether or not to use his hero name. Judging by their surroundings and everything they knew, this was a different world; he'd use his real name. "I'm Midoriya. This is Todoroki."

"Who are you?" the third party seemed slightly offended at the question, as if it were obvious.

"I'm Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation. Or I was until five minutes ago. I just turned my back on my father completely." he faced the other way for a second. "Do you want to come with me?" 

Midoriya didn't give any time to let Todoroki say anything before responding. "Sure!"

The now trio managed to steal a war balloon, and started heading west.

While Zuko fueled the balloon into the air, Midoriya sat in the corner, asking questions rapid fire and noting everything down.

"What's your quirk?"

"Quirk?"

"You don't have quirks?" he asked, puzzled. The Prince shook his head no. "A quirk is like a superpower. I'd show you mine but there isn't room."

Without needing to be asked, Todoroki displayed his, coating his right hand in ice before melting it with his left.

"Oh, like bending. I'm a fire bender, but there are earth benders and water benders." he resumed his position fueling the balloon. Midoriya guessed he was hiding something from them, but he couldn't figure out just what.

"What about air?" Todoroki spoke up, "If there's fire, water and earth, shouldn't there be air?"

"Theres only one airbender. The Fire Nation wiped them out 100 years ago. The last airbender is the avatar. That's who we're looking for." Zuko replied bluntly. He wasn't in the mood to explain world history to some aliens.


	2. Chapter 2

Aang was really getting under Katara's skin with his antics. She understood that he was happy to be back in the air temples, and the weight of losing the invasion was crushing them all, but this was stupid.

"We need to discuss what we're going to do next, and since you're the Avatar, I thought you might want a say in the matter." she told him.

"What's the plan?"

"If you ask me, the new plan, is the old plan!" Sokka replied excitedly, waving his arms around. "You just need to master all four elements and confront the Firelord before the comet arrives."

Aang sulked. "Where am I going to find a fire bending teacher? This is impossible."

"We could look for Jeong Jeong?" Katara suggested.

"Yeah right. Like we'll ever run into Jeong Jeong again."

"Who's- oh nevermind. If it's important, I'll find out." Toph said from atop her rock.

Aang flew off as Sokka said, "Who can teach him firebending?"

(A/n I know this isn't the actual conversation, but it's close enough, I can't be bothered to get the actual script)

~~~~~

"Hi, Zuko here" the Prince said to a badgerfrog, rehearsing his speach to the gang. "I've come to teach the Avatar firebending."

"What are you hoping to achieve by practicing?" Todoroki said from a nearby boulder.

The grass around Zuko started to dry up as he got angry.

"Todoroki, that's not nice-" Midoriya started to say, but was cut off.

"No, he's right, I'm accomplishing nothing. What would Uncle do?" he started to mumble something about finding yourself.

Midoriya returned to analysing the world around him, taking plenty of mental notes. He would usually write things like this down but he didn't have his notebook in his costume. He had a pen for some reason, but no notebook.

"I can't get any signal and my phone is nearly dead. How are we gonna get back home?" Todoroki complained, freezing his rock.

"Of course there's no signal. We're in a different world, and even if we weren't, I've been tracking the technological advancement compared to our world. This would be roughly the 1850's." Midoriya explained like a nerd.

"Oh."

"The sun will go down soon. We should head for the temple." Zuko said, standing up.

~~~~~

"C'mon! I need to show you the giant Pai Sho table!" Aang pulled Katara along before being stopped.

"I think that'll have to wait." she pointed to behind Appa. There stood Zuko and two mysterious strangers.

"Hello, Zuko here." he said, trying to sound as friendly and non-threatening as possible.

The gang all took up fighting stances, ready to attack.

"What do you want Zuko? Who are these, your royal escorts?" Katara asked harshly.

"I'm here to teach the Avatar firebending." Toph could feel him shaking. At first she thought he was lying, but she realised that he was just really nervous.

"I don't know about this." Aang said, looking down.

"Well if you won't take me as a teacher, take me as a prisoner." Zuko knelt down and offered his wrists.

"No!" Katara shot a stream of water at him, soaking him from head to toe. "I was the first one to trust you!"

"Huh?" she sent another stream his way.

"Back in Ba Sing Se! And you betrayed us! How can we trust you after everything you've done?"

"Zuko, I think we should leave." one of the strangers said, helping him up.

"You'd better leave!" Katara yelled after them.

Once they were completely out of earshot, Sokka spoke up.

"Was that not a little mean?"

"What do you mean? He deserves everything I said to him." she was clearly seething with anger. "Back at Ba Sing Se... He started talking about his mother... Making him seem like the victim. I felt sorry for him, and then he turned and took glory out of Aang's death. I'll never trust him after that."

"I wonder who those two boys were." Toph changed the topic quickly. She knew that Zuko was genuine. And she knew that they needed a firebender.

"They didn't look like they were from around here. Or anywhere. Did you see the taller ones hair?" Aang said. "I wonder if either of them are firebenders."


	3. Chapter 3

"They definitely hate me. I should have brought up when I freed their bison. Would they even have believed that? At least I didn't bring up the assassin. Oh god, the assassin is still hunting them." Zuko rambled on near constantly about his mistakes until he went to sleep. Midoriya did his best to comfort him, but he wasn't the best at it. He barely knew him.

On the other hand, he did know that Todoroki wasn't going to sleep that night. He knew that he couldn't sleep properly if he doesn't feel comfortable in his surroundings, and outside in the middle of a forest in another world was not what he'd call comfortable.

After Zuko and Midoriya had fallen asleep, Todoroki was still sat on his rock, doodling patterns into the moss. He could hear a small rustle in the bushes. He stood up, ready to either fight or catch tomorrow's dinner.

"Hey, Zuko!" the small one in green from earlier emerged into the clearing. As if he was never even asleep, Zuko sat up and responded to the noise with a blast of fire.

"Crap." he swore, realising his mistake. "Let me help!"

"Get away from me!" she screamed back at him, bending the earth to fling him away. 

"Can I help?" Todoroki asked calmly. "I can carry you back to the others."

She was silent for a moment before answering. "Fine, but only because my feet need healing quickly."

Todoroki turned back to Zuko, who nodded gently. The other took this as a sign of approval to help the girl.

He picked her up, being careful of her burns. "Hold on tight." he said before using his ice to zoom back to the temple.

~~~~~

Toph had no idea what this boy was doing. She could feel something that felt like Katara's ice, but she couldn't sense any water around for him to bend. He was going quicker than anything she'd ever felt before, even on Appa. Who was this boy and why was he with Zuko of all people?

Within minutes, they were back at the gangs camp. Todoroki thought that it would be best if he just dropped her off and left, but she forced him to meet the others properly.

"Toph! What happened?" Katara asked, helping her over to the fountain.

"My feet got burned."

"I meant how?" Todoroki decided it was best to keep silent for now, so he began to melt his ice.

"I kind of went to see Zuko." she admitted. Todoroki kept melting his ice.

"You what?" Aang said, shocked.

"Did he attack you?"

"Well-"

"Did he, or did he not firebend at you?"

Toph gave in. "Yes."

Katara turned to Todoroki. "And who are you? Is Zuko your friend?"

"Not really. We bumped into him a few days ago and have just been following him around since." he replied. Just keep melting the ice, it'll make things less awkward.

"You're a firebender!" Sokka exclaimed.

"I'm not, why do people think that-"

"You can teach Aang firebending!" Todoroki was interrupted.

"Are you all just going to ignore my giant ice blast?"

"I don't have to be taught by Zuko!" God, these children were idiots.

"I'm not a firebender!" everyone looked at him, confused and astounded, "I'm not even from this world."

"What do you mean?" Katara asked, still healing Toph's feet.

"Me and my friend were teleported here somehow, we're confused, lost and don't know how to get back. I just want to go home, I don't care about some war I have no part in." it felt good to get that out.

"Is your friend the little green one?"

"Yeah. He's fine with the whole thing for the most part, he's just trying to learn new fighting styles." That's all Midoriya had been doing every time he saw someone bend since they arrived. He'd almost forgotten he had to get home.

"Bring them here tomorrow. We'll figure something out on all fronts." Aang said, bowing to Todoroki. He awkwardly bowed back before turning back to where Zuko and Midoriya were.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bakugo walks like team skull grunts, this isn't related to the chapter at all, I just needed to say it

"I should probably start with an apology." Zuko started, earning a nod from all the gang. "I'm sorry for every time that you thought you could trust me, only for me to turn on you at the last second. I'm sorry for all the times I took advantage of one of you in order to hurt Aang. I see now that I was searching for respect that would never come, rather than trying to right the wrongs of the past."

"I accept your apology, Zuko." Aang said, bowing low, "I look forward to learning firebending with you."

As if he'd been waiting for this his entire life, Aang began to show Zuko, Todoroki and Midoriya around the Western Air Temple, ending back at the camp.

"You used to live here? Its amazing!" Midoriya gushed, taking in the beauty.

"Not really. My people were nomads, we didn't live in one place, at least not for long."

"Isn't it fascinating? Each element controlled by certain people, all from certain areas. I wonder what the specifics are!" mumbling all the way, Midoriya ran off to interrogate Katara about her bending.

"You wanna go shoot some fire?" Aang asked the other two.

"Sure. My fire could do with some work, and more traditional fighting styles could be useful."

~~~~~

"So you can bend any bodily fluid?"

"I can. That doesn't mean I will."

"That's fair. I once fought a villain who could limit your movement by tasting your blood. It was scary, not being able to move." Midoriya was having a blast with all this new information that he could use.

A few moments later, he heard something behind him, from the top of the canyon. At first he thought to ignore it, but he was drawn to it somehow.

He was glad he turned around to check what it was, as a familiar figure was falling helplessly through the air.

Without a moments notice, Midoriya activated his quirk, pushing his power to 20% as he leapt across to the other side of the temple, catching his unconscious friend on the way. He easily and quickly found his way back, ready for Katara to heal the injuries he had.

It took a moment, but he woke up, grotty and readjusting to the light.

"Watch out... For... Shitty hair." Bakugo grumbled, trying to sit up.

Suddenly, Midoriya looked back and sure enough, Kirishima was falling from the sky as well. 

He swiftly repeated his previous movements to catch the falling boy.

"Hey Midoriya!" Kirishima practically yelled, since he wasn't nearly as beaten up as Bakugo.

"How did you get here?" Midoriya asked, helping him over to Katara.

"Bakugo wanted rev-"

"I wanted to get the glory for taking down the guy who you and Half n Half failed to take down." Bakugo interrupted.

"That worked out well, huh?" Katara piped up, giggling slightly at her joke.

"What the hell do you think you're laughing at, Hair Loops?" he shouted, suddenly gaining buckets of energy.

"Kacchan, calm down, you're hurt."

"I'm not going to be looked after by a nerd like you!" he stood up, ready to storm off before doubling over in pain.

"Toph, please contain him." Midoriya asked. Toph simply grinned, shifting her foot slightly. Within moments, Bakugo was encased in earth, trying his hardest to explode himself out. When he realised that doing so would only injure him more, he stopped, and started to sulk.

"Could you keep healing them while I go get Todoroki? I'll be back in a minute. Thanks!" Midoriya ran off, leaving a furious Bakugo, who was fully prepared to blow his head off as soon as he could move freely again.

"So... What are your quirks?" Katara asked, trying to make the time alone less awkward.

"I can harden any part of my body at will!" Kirishima excited explained, giving a demonstration.

"Oh, that's so different to Midoriya or Todoroki's, and incredibly different to anything we have." she displayed a little fancy waterbending to show him what she could do.

"Bakugo sweats nitroglycerin that he can explode! It's super cool and flashy! Totally manly!"

"There's an assassin chasing us that can explode things with his third eye!" the two bonded for a while before Midoriya returned with Todoroki, Zuko, Aang and Sokka, who had been watched them practice.

"Since when has Icy Hot had a twin?" Bakugo spat at Zuko.

"We aren't similar at all. You're more like him than I am." Todoroki said bluntly. 

"No I'm not!" the other two said in unison.

"Calm down! Kirishima and Bakugo are here because of the same guy that sent us here. We still don't have a way home and now we have even more people to get back. This is serious!" Midoriya explained with increasing annoyance.

"Yeah, where are we?" Kirishima asked, looking around.

"Currently, we're at the Western Air Temple. We think you come from a different planet rather than a separate universe, but its hard to say." already being the bridge between two worlds, Aang decided to add a third to his title, helping out with any questions the heroes may have.

"Can I ask what you're wearing?" Sokka asked, speaking up for the first time in a while.

"They're our hero costumes! We may need some new clothes, we don't exactly fit in around here." Kirishima answered, as though they didn't already stand out thanks to their hair.

"Wait! I feel someone coming! From the top of the cliff!" Toph warned the others. "Hide!"

Katara turned to try to get a look at the invador before taking cover behind a wall.

"Remember that guy I was telling you about earlier?"

"Yeah?"

"That's him."


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the longest chapter so far

"I've got to fix this, I sent this guy after you." Zuko said with reckless bravery.

"Pump the breaks, princey. Let someone qualified in explosions handle this." Bakugo said with reckless stupidity.

"But Kacchan, you're still injured. You can't fight yet." Midoriya warned, trying to pull him behind the wall.

"I can do what I want." he replied harshly. "I have these." He held up his grenade things, smirking.

"You still can't fire them at this distance, and you can't get closer without getting hurt again!"

"SHUT UP DEKU!" Midoriya was taken back at this. Bakugo had been quite calm - at least compared to how he usually was - until this moment. "I don't need you to care for me! Fuck off!"

He sparked a little before taking off completely. He was smart enough to fly in a zig-zag motion to make him harder to blow to smitherines at least. When he was about 10 metres away from the assassin, he pulled the trigger.

The grenade spun closer and closer to Sparky Sparky Boom Man, pressure building up inside it. He knew that he would die if it hit him, and he would do anything to make sure it didn't. In a moments worth of thinking, he attempted to explode it; it was risky, that was garunteed.

For all his best efforts to not get blown up by Bakugos grenade, it ended up being his own explosion too close to his face that was the end of him. He had underestimated its power - it was travelling at immense speeds and the material it was built with was strong.

(A/n this next part is kinda gruesome so tw I guess) 

The feeling of having your face blown apart was not one that is pleasant to describe, however toned down, it felt like the moment directly before you sneeze but with your whole head, and million times worse. 

Back on the temple, Bakugo collapsed near the gangs feet, coughing slightly from the smoke, which was double the amount he was used to from using his grenades.

"What the hell was that?" Zuko asked, astounded at what he just witnessed.

Bakugo merely scowled, and tried to storm off before Katara froze his feet in place.

"I wasn't done healing you, and if you don't mind, I'd like to finish." she demanded, earning an exhausted grumble from him and nothing else. Midoriya pinned this down to him being too tired to argue and that he knew he needed help, which he couldn't do by himself.

Since he had nothing better to do, Midoriya went and sat down next to Sokka, who was watching Aang, Zuko and Todoroki practise their fire again.

"Why isn't it working?" Zuko shouted at himself after producing another round of smoke puffed into the air.

"That one kind of felt hot." Aang said, trying to keep morale up.

"Don't patronise me!"

"Sorry, Sifu Hotman."

"And stop calling me that!" he took a breath to calm down before turning to Todoroki, who was absentmindedly watching Momo fly in loops. "How do you make your flames?"

"Fighting Midoriya." Todoroki didn't seem to like Zuko at all, and no one really understood why. Because of this, he tended to give even more bland and vague answers than he usually did. 

"Huh?" Midoriya blanked at the sound of his name. "Why me?"

"Remember, at the sports festival? I accidentally used my left because of you. And then I set myself on fire because of you like an hour later." he technically wasn't wrong. It wouldn't hurt to try, and it would only be like fighting a 16 year old, infinitely less dickheadish Endeavour. What could go wrong?

He rose to his feet, activating One For All as he made his way to Zuko. 

"Watch out, he's stronger than he looks, even when he isn't using his quirk." Kirishima said, emerging from the clearing.

"Had enough of Bakugo?" Todoroki asked sarcastically.

"I've had enough of all this waiting around, fight!"

They both took their stances at Kirishima and Sokka started a countdown.

"Three!"

"Two!"

"One!"

"Fight!"

Despite Zuko having good reflexes, Midoriya was easily quicker than him. He noticed however, that his agility wasn't great. Sure, he could bounce of walls, but if there wasn't any wall to bounce off, he would have an issue. He was a slower fighter overall, which would work well with Zuko's much quicker style.

Midoriyas mind was also racing with a battle plan. Zuko was quick, but he could avoid fighting up close with his air bullets. He'd briefly watched Aang practice with airbending, and he didn't underestimate how strong air can be. On top of that, Zuko couldn't make much more than a puff of smoke, which can easily be put out.

Midoriya bounced around for a few seconds before leaping at Zuko. He barely managed to dodge the attack, their hands scraped for a second, but no harm done to either party. When their hands touched, Zuko felt a momentary surge of energy before it left him again. He had to get another moment of contact in somehow to test out a theory he had.

Said moment never came however, as Zuko spent seconds too long thinking. With a thump, he was pushed to the floor by Midoriya's bright red boots, which were more painful than he'd care to admit. 

"I win." he said with an innocent smile.


	6. Chapter 6

"Hey Aang, Katara wanted me to tell you that dinner is nearly ready." Aang opened an eye slightly and let out a small "okay" before going back to his position.

Midoriya walked over and sat cross legged in front of him.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"I'm trying to contact one of my past lives. They might know something about why Zuko is having trouble bending." Aang replied, relaxing his back.

"Your past lives? Zuko mentioned something about you being reborn each generation, but I didn't know you could talk to them. That's amazing!" he wished that he could write all this down, but he still had no notebook.

"Each time an avatar dies, a new one is born into a different nation. There should be a water avatar after me." Aang stood up. "We should get to dinner."

Midoriya nodded and followed him to the campfire.

"Tonight we'll be having mushroom soup again." Katara carried on talking about the lack of variation of the wildlife here but Midoriya wasn't listening.

If Aang could contact all previous avatars, then what was stopping him from trying to contact any of the previous One For All holders? He could speak to All Might... He could speak to All For One's brother... 

The chances were slim to nil, but it was worth a try.

Just then, his thoughts were cut short by Zuko.

"Guys... I've lost my stuff."

"Don't look at me, I didn't touch your stuff!" Toph said defensively.

"No, my firebending, it's... Gone. Well not gone, but weaker." Katara simply laughed. Everyone knew she didn't like Zuko after what happened in Ba Sing Se, but this was another level.

"Sorry, I'm just thinking about how great it would have been if you'd lost your stuff a long time ago."

"Katara, the fate of the world is in Zuko's hands right now, and all you can do is laugh?" Todoroki snapped. "Aang knows waterbending, but he hasn't the slightest idea how to firebend. You can focus on your personal issues later."

Midoriya had never seen this side of Todoroki that he was displaying right now. He was stressed, sleep deprived and only knew one person properly out of everyone he was stuck with. It was understandable that he was irritated, but it still scared Midoriya slightly.

Even Katara looked taken back by this, but everyone looked shocked. 

The rest of dinner was eaten in an awkward silence, with only a few "thanks for making dinner, Katara" at the end.

"Midoriya?" Todoroki asked when everyone had gone their separate ways.

"Yes, Todoroki?"

"How are we going to get home? I've been trying to think of a way since we arrived. I'm stumped." Midoriya had noticed that he spent a lot of time in thought. One could only wonder what he was thinking, and now Midoriya knew.

"I don't know. The best we can do now is help with the war and sort it out when there isn't a bigger priority." the two sat together while Midoriya kept muttering to himself.

In another part of the temple, Zuko was still trying to get even a small flame.

"Toph?"

"What?"

"How did you learn earthbending?" he asked, creating a small stream of smoke from his finger.

"I learnt from the badgermoles. They're blind, like me, but they use earthbending to see."

"Well I can't exactly ask the dragons for some tips, can I?" he said defensively.

"Why not?" Bakugo asked, sitting on top of a large rock that Toph bent for him.

"They aren't around anymore."

"Can you not poke around a museum or something? Surely there's a skeleton somewhere." 

"I'm a wanted traitor in the Fire Nation, I can't exactly take a day trip to the national museum." Bakugo scoffed at this. He too didn't exactly get along with the Prince, but then again, he didn't get along with anyone. Except Kirishima and Toph, but they were the exceptions. They stood their ground better than anyone else, and Bakugo respected that.

"But I could poke around the ruins of the Sun Warriors. They didn't live too far from here." Bakugo left to find Kirishima. He wasn't one for things he didn't know about, and he didn't even care about this.

The following morning, Aang and Zuko were packing for their trip.

"Hey, Bakugo, Todoroki!" Aang called cheerfully. "I was wondering if you'd want to come with us?"

"I'm not a firebender." Bakugo replied. 

"Aw... You could pick up some tips?" he attempted to convince him to come once more.

"No."

"You could get ahead of Midoriya." that was the last straw.

"I'm not behind Deku!" he shouted, creating two small explosions. "Fine. I'll come." he gave in.

"Todoroki?"

"Sure." it would get him out of the temple for a while, and it may be the key to getting home.

"I just need to grab something from the meditation chambers, I'll be back in a minute." Aang rushed off, only to find someone in the chamber.


	7. Chapter 7

Midoriya was sat, cross legged in the middle of the meditation chambers when Aang walked in.

"Midoriya? What are you doing?" he asked.

"Can I tell you something? You have to promise not to tell anyone."

"Always. Whatever you need." he sat down next to the future hero.

"I wasn't born with a quirk. It was given to me by someone else. I was hoping that maybe I'd be able to contact the past holders of my quirk, like you do." Midoriya responded, telling Aang about his biggest secret. He trusted the avatar with this knowledge that not even his own mother knew about.

"Have you ever spoken to them before?"

"Once. They appeared in front of me to take me out of a brain washing." Aang stood up, patting Midoriya on the back gently.

"I should probably go find Zuko. I hope you manage to contact your past lives!" speaking to Aang was enough to give anyone hope, and Midoriya was no different. He immediately cheered up, and returned to meditating.

Clear your mind, focus all of your energy on one thing - speaking to All Might.

...  
....  
.....  
......  
.......

This is impossible. No. He had to do this. He didn't want to be trapped here forever. His mother would worry; she was probably already worried. They had been gone for several days now, everyone probably thought they were dead. What if they had held a funeral? No, he couldn't think like that. He would get back whether he was dead or alive.

Clear your mind.  
...

Focus all your energy on one thing.  
....

Midoriya activated One For All.  
.....

Focus.  
......

Focus.  
.......

"Young Midoriya?"

"All Might!" in the state of shock of seeing All Might, Midoriya accidentally lost contact. Once again, he was alone. He grumbled a little before trying again.

It took a little longer this time, but Midoriya was determined not to freak out at the sight of his idol.

"Young Midoriya?"

"All Might! You're here!" he cried.

"I was just in the staff room, now I'm here."

"That was me! I summoned you!"

All Might gave a smile to the child in front of him. Even if he was destined to be the greatest hero, he was still a child. And a missing one at that. 

"Where are you? Are you okay?" he asked.

"I'm at the Western Air Temple, in another world. I'm fine."

"Are Todoroki, Bakugo and Kirishima with you?"

He nodded. "Kacchan and Todoroki left for the home of the Sun Warriors not long ago. Kirishima is practicing combat with Sokka and Toph." 

"Who are Sokka and Toph?" he asked.

"They are two of the people we met here. We also know Aang and Zuko - they're with Todoroki and Kacchan right now - and Katara. I'm not sure what she's doing."

"I don't know how to get you back, but we've been interrogating the villain like crazy. We fear you may be stuck here forever."

"No." Midoriya wasn't one to lose hope like that, "if we got here, we can get back, I'm certain."

Unfortunately, All Might was more of a realist. He knew Midoriya was capable of amazing things, but he was unsure about this.

"Just don't use your full power, I don't want you to be unable to move while you can't access Recovery Girl. And don't do anything too stupid and reckless." he warned the other, who had a tendency to go overboard with 'the right thing'.

"I should tell you that we're in the middle of a 100 year war that we're going to help win."

"What?" of all the places to be, of course its a war torn world.

"Its fine, the literal God on Earth is on our side."

"Midoriya?"

"Yeah?" he looked up at All Might. 

"Stay safe."

Midoriya nodded before replying, "I will. Oh, and tell mum that I'm not dead."

All Might chuckled. "I will."

Without much else, he disappeared into a swirling fog as Midoriya opened his eyes, gasping slightly.

He did it. He actually did it! He couldn't wait to tell Aang about this. In the meantime, however, he would go back to practicing fighting.

~~~~~

Bakugo, Todoroki, Zuko and Aang were stuck to an airvent in ruins that no one has lived in for hundreds of years. Whether they would get out or not was debatable.

"Hey Bakugo. If we die now, you'll never be a better hero than Midoriya." Todoroki said, pulling Bakugos strings.

"What the HELL did you just say!" both his mood and the vent they were glued to exploded, freeing them. 

"Nice work!" Zuko complimented Todoroki for the first time since they'd met. The four of them continued through the ancient city until they discovered something that hadn't been seen for many years.


	8. Chapter 8

"Hey Kiri?" Sokka approached Kirishima.

"Yeah dude?" 

"Can you tell me about everyone's quirks? I want to try to see how we can use them." he said, notebook in hand.

"Oh, sure. It might be better having Midoriya, he's been researching quirks since he was a child." Kirishima replied, already on his way to get Midoriya but Sokka stopped him.

"It's fine, he's just meditating." Sokka told the other, who stopped and turned back round.

"Meditating? The only time I've ever seen him relax is when he was passed out in a hospital bed. And that time Mineta spiked the water supply but all the water in the dorms was connected, so people got drunk from having a shower. Are you sure he isn't asleep? Or dead?" Kirishima rambled, but Sokka ignored most of it.

"Wait who did what now? Either way, he'll be fine. How does your quirk work?"

"I get hard."

"What?" Sokka looked up from his notebook, an eyebrow raised. 

"Yeah, my skin can go super hard at will. It's better at defense than offence, but it gets as hard as a rock!" Kirishima flashed a smile as he hardened his fist.

"And your teeth?"

"That's just a random mutation. They happen sometimes." his teeth were sharp and pointy, which made him appear somewhat scary, especially to small children, but it made certain things easier to eat. Chewy things like gummy bears were difficult though, as was brushing his teeth.

"What can you endure?" Sokka asked, poking Kirishima's still hardened hand.

"Pretty much anything. Do you have a knife?"

"I'm not stabbing you to prove how sturdy you are. What about everyone else's quirk, how do they work?" Sokka scribbled something down before Momo stole his pencil to chew.

"Todoroki is half hot, half cold. He freezes things with his right side and produces fire with his left. He doesn't tend to use his left side as much though. That's all there really is on him, it's pretty basic, but powerful and manly. Flashy, too; good for getting the attention of the public." he explained. It was true, Todoroki's quirk isn't a complicated one, but it is strong, versatile, and recognisable.

"Midoriya's quirk is kind of a mystery. He never developed one until he was 14, and no one knows where he got it from. There were rumours going around that his mum had cheated, or that he was All Might's secret love child." Kirishima was interrupted.

"Who is All Might?"

"All Might is the ex #1 hero. He started teaching at our school the year we started. Midoriya is obviously his favourite student, and their quirks are quite similar, but no one knows exactly what they are." he explained.

"And Bakugo?"

"He sweats this explosive stuff that's similar to nitroglycerin. His quirk matches his personality perfectly."

"Thanks! I have some ideas of how they can be used in combat when combined with everyone's bending." Kirishima got a quick look at his notebook, which was mostly filled with doodles of people - presumably the rest of the gang - who looked like the were casting spells at each other.

They sat in silence for a few moments before Toph emerged from the temple.

"When are Sparky 1, 2, 3 and 4 gonna get back, it's boring without being able to beat one of them up."

"Three way battle?"

"Hell yeah."

The three take their stances before all hell broke loose.

~~~~~

"Fire is not only anger and destruction, but warmth and life." despite not being seen for centuries, the Sun Warrior civilisation was alive and thriving.

In the end, Bakugo and Todoroki had elected not to face the masters due to not being actual firebenders, but they both managed to develop their quirks from the visit.

The Warrior that had found them after Bakugo exploded the vent was cold to him from the start. He realised that he would have to calm down before he got any kind of respect from these people, even though he thought they were incredibly strange in every manner of the word.

He was mostly silent on the way back to the Western Air Temple, which was unusual no matter what the circumstances. Aang would make sure that Midoriya heard about this, it would fascinate him.


	9. Chapter 9

Kirishima always got cold at night. Usually, he would just get a blanket, or lie by the radiator, but those options weren't exactly available in his current situation.

His first solution was to find Bakugo since he was usually quite warm, but he had been sleeping in a completely different area of the temple - "I'm not sleeping with these losers!" he'd yelled.

Instead of walking all the way to Bakugo, he resorted to cuddling with Appa. His fur should act like a blanket, which would keep him warm until morning.

Settling down, he noticed Sokka stand up, glancing around. He thought nothing of it and tried to go back to sleep. This was, until Sokka screamed and fell on top of him.

"Kiri?" he whisper shouted, "what are you doing?"

"What about you?" he shot back.

"You both ought to be more quiet." Zuko jumped down from Appa, landing without a sound.

"Zuko, I'm still going to go. The invasion plan was my idea, and I chose to stay when things went wrong. I have to restore my honour." Kirishima didn't know what Sokka was talking about, but he wasn't going to let him do it alone.

"Fine, but I'm coming with you."

"Me too."

"We can take the war balloon. Last time I checked, prisons don't have bison day care." Zuko said, patting the side of Appas head.

"Wait, prison?" Kirishima asked.

"Yeah, my dad was taken hostage after the invasion. Suki might be there too!" he wasn't going to ask who Suki was. Hopefully, he'd find out later.

"We should leave a note so they don't worry when they wake up and find us gone. I'll say we've gone fishing." Zuko quickly scribbled down a note before running after the other two.

They loaded some food into the balloon, and a spare set of clothes each - Kirishima borrowed some of Zuko's. He kind of regretted choosing a hero costume that was so cold. 

For the most part, the flight to the prison - which Kirishima found out was called the Boiling Rock - started off an awkward silence.

"Pretty clouds."

"Yeah." awkward was the only word to describe this. "Fluffy."

"You know, a friend of mine actually designed this." Sokka said, breaking the silence.

"No kidding." he turned to Kirishima, "Do they have things like this in your world?" 

"We have way cooler things than this! But we still have balloons." Kirishima replied.

"Did you leave anyone behind when you came here? A girlfriend?" Sokka asked. He clearly had the most social skills out of the three of them.

"Not really. I've never had a girlfriend before." he cringed a little at how pathetic he sounded.

"What about a boyfriend?"

"Still no. Hey Zuko, did you leave anyone behind when you found Aang?" Kirishima had been wondering this for a while. Zuko didn't seem like the kind of person who had lots of close friends, especially being a Prince. 

"I did have a girlfriend, Mai." he smiled a bit at the thought of her.

"The gloomy one who sighs a lot?" Kirishima figured that they'd met before he arrived. 

"Yeah." 

"My first girlfriend turned into the moon." Sokka said, leaning on the side of the balloon.

(A/n say it with me everybody)

"That's rough buddy." Zuko said nonchalantly.

There were another few moments of awkward silence; what were you meant to say to that?

As if on cue to force the trio to speak, the balloon started to drop rapidly.

"What's happening?" Kirishima yelled, clinging onto the basket for dear life while Zuko tried to bend more fire into the balloon.

"The air on the outside is just as warm as the air inside, we're here!" Sokka yelled, also struggling to stay on his feet.

"What're we meant to do?" Zuko had since given up on trying to keep them in the air, and was plummeting with the rest of them.

"Crash land?" 

Sure enough, they crashed into the centre of the volcano, completely obliterating any way of leaving.

"Shit." Kirishima grumbled as he rolled onto the ground. His head had been bashed on the way down, and he had got grazes covering his entire body.

He could here Sokka kicking something into the water; upon looking up, he realised it was the broken remains of the balloon.

"What are you doing?"

"It's unusable. And besides, if they find it, we'll be in trouble. I suspected this may be a one way ticket." Sokka explained as Zuko and Kirishima sighed. How could he be so stupid?

"You knew this would happen? Uncle always said I didn't think things through, but this is ridiculous." Zuko complained.

"It's fine, we'll think of something. For now, we have to find some guard uniforms." that wasn't reassuring at all, but the other two had no choice but to go along with it.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Go to the book on wattpad (same name) for a cursed image

Kirishima was glad to be in clothes that covered his entire body. He had been in his hero costume since they arrived, and Zuko's clothes were a little on the tight side. 

On the downside, he had to be careful not to open his mouth too much, as his teeth could give them away, if his hair didn't betray them first.

Zuko possibly had it worse. He was a traitor accused of attempted regicide and turning against his country who had an incredibly noticeable physical feature. Anywhere but the Fire Nation, they might have been able to play it off as battle wounds, however this was the most secure prison in the world. 

When they emerged at the yard, they were met with a scuffle.

"What did I do?" the prisoner asked.

"He doesn't know what he did. Isn't that cute?" the guard mocked, laughing. "You didn't bow down when I walked past."

"Is that was this is about? This is ridiculous. I'm leaving." the prisoner started to walk away when a whip of fire hit his ankles.

"Don't turn away from me Chit Sang!" he sent a stream of fire towards the prisoner, who quickly took control of it, and sent it back the other way.

"Tut tut. Using firebending? That's against the rules. Off to the cooler. You!" he turned to Sokka. "Take Chit Sang to the cooler."

Sokka quickly whispered "Meet me back here in an hour." to Kirishima and Zuko. They nodded before going their separate ways.

They followed some other guards to the lounge, discussing their plan on the way. Opening the door, they found a lively area filled to the brim with Fire Nation guards - all on the lookout for Zuko.

"Hey new guy, you can take your helmet off in the lounge." a woman shouted.

"Um, but what if a prisoner sneaks up on me and bashes me on the head. I don't want to be caught off guard and pass out." Zuko lied. Kirishima lifted his visor to ease her concerns a little.

"Give it a week, he'll loosen up." the man opposite joked. 

"Actually, we have some questions for you." Zuko said, sitting down on the bench.

"You can't date the female officers."

"Trust me, you don't want to." the woman threw a beaker at her friends head while they both laughed.

"No... Tell me about the kind of prisoners you have here." Zuko leaned forwards slightly.

"We have some robbers, murderers, even some pirates." the two guards explained, "why do you want to know?"

Zuko racked his brain for a believable lie until Kirishima took over.

"We need to know who we're dealing with. By the way, are there any war criminals?" they seemed to be satisfied with his answer, as they answered his question without asking him to elaborate.

"There are some Earth Kingdom ones. They're awful prisoners. Always getting into fights and starting riots. I'd advise you to stay away from them, you don't look like you could stand your ground with them." the woman replied, looking the two boys up and down.

"Thanks. We'll be going now." Kirishima managed to escape their questions for now, but he didn't know if he would run into them again. He pulled Zuko out of the lounge until they were in a clear area.

"That was close." he sighed of relief. "You really need to learn how to lie better." The pair kept walking as to not raise suspicion.

They came across another guard standing watch over the yard, rather short compared to the rest of the officers.

"How goes?" Zuko asked, awkward taking a place beside them.

"Zuko? Kiri?" the guard shouted, raising his visor to reveal Sokka underneath.

"Sssshhh!" Kirishima hissed at him.

"We asked around a bit. There are only Earth Kingdom prisoners of war here. I'm sorry." Zuko broke the news.

"No... We came all this way... Now I've gotten you two stuck here too..." Sokka lamented on all of his past failures, throwing himself against the wall.

"Dude, stop being so dramatic, you're acting like Zuko. There's always a way out, no matter how hopeless things may seem." Kirishima held out a hand to help the other up with a warm smile.

"I'm glad you said that, I was about to make up some metaphor about clouds." Zuko whispered in Kirishima's ear.

"Maybe this trip wasn't entirely pointless! Look, there's Suki!" Sokka pointed at a girl sitting in the yard, kicking the dust around for something to do. "I have to go talk to her!"

"You can visit her when she's back in her cell. It'd be too obvious to talk in public areas. We can think of a plan in the meantime." Zuko told him, grabbing his shoulder both to keep him from running off and to consolidate him.

"Okay."


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is to break up the Boiling Rock chapters, we'll get back to Zuko, Sokka and Kirishima next chapter

"Gone hunting for meat. Be back in a few days. Sokka, Zuko and Kirishima. Ps. Aang, practice your firebending while I'm gone. Do 20 hotsquats every time you hear a badgerfrog croak." Katara read the note aloud to the others. "I guess we have peace for a while."

Todoroki stifled a laugh before Bakugo emerged from his self proclaimed room.

"Where the hell is Shitty Hair?" he asked, ruffling his own hair into place - even if said placement was a mess.

"He's gone get some food with Sokka and Zuko. They should be back in a few days." Katara replied, holding up the note so he could see.

"So I have to spend time with the rest of you until he gets back? No thanks." he turned around to leave before Toph bent a column of earth around him, trapping him in place.

"Not on my watch Super Sparky. We're having a group training session."

Bakugo looked livid to say the least. To say the most, would be that he looked about to explode. "Can you stop doing that!" he more demanded than asked. That's never going to happen. 

"Only when you stop being so stubborn to admit that you don't care about anyone!" she'd never admit it, but Katara was proud of Toph. The earthbender had very clearly taken a liking to Bakugo, but he was too proud to accept anyone but Kirishima as a friend. Even then, he wouldn't admit that he cared.

Bakugo growled like a dog before admitting defeat. Toph let him go, but not without a final kick. Going to step forward, he noticed his feet stuck in the floor. It took all of his willpower not to blast the temple off the side of the cliff.

Midoriya was shocked. He'd never seen anyone except Kirishima handle Bakugo as well as Toph had just now; even Katara was decent at keeping him down. 

"Hey, Sokka left his notebook here. I wonder if there's any good tips in there." Aang notices the book lay by the sleeping bag. He picks it up and flicks through a few pages.

"Anything?"

"Todoroki creates a-" he abruptly cuts himself off, blushing slightly. He hands the notebook over to Todoroki, who continues reading it for him.

"Todoroki creates a fuckton of ice that Katara and Aang can bend and take down Firelord shitbrains." he reads aloud.

"Katsuki!" Bakugo winced at Katara yelling his name. "You need to stop swearing."

"I didn't even swear!"

"Sokka had to pick it up from somewhere." this childish side of Bakugo that had never been seen before, and quite frankly, it was hilarious.

Todoroki nodded in agreement, "Firelord Shitbrains is a very you insult. Have you ever considered being a nice person?"

Of course, Bakugo reacted to this boldness, snapping back to his usual self. 

"You wanna go, Icy-Hot?" he took a running start at the other before being swiftly encased in ice from below. 

"Aw, you think I'm hot." Midoriya snickered at Todoroki's teasing - after all, it was better to do it when Bakugo was immobilised. Even so, he looked like he could kill someone.

"Thanks for the ice." Katara said, looking around at the floor. A shiny film covered the ground like a blanket, except for a circle around Bakugo, which Katara had bent into his temporary prison.

"I take precautions." he looked back at the notebook which was still in his hands. "Bend Bakugo's sweat, the Fire Nation thinks its normal water, they firebend at it and boom it explodes." Todoroki finished reading and showed Katara the doodles. 

"You aren't taking my sweat!" Bakugo demanded, though being encased in ice meant he didn't have much to detonate anyway.

"Tough luck." Katara said, bending the beads of sweat on his forehead into her old pouch. Since she learnt how to take water from plants and the air, she hadn't needed it as much, so it had mostly been dead weight until now.

"Anyone want to practise with me?" Aang spoke up.

"Sure." Todoroki said.

"Only if you wear the blindfold." Toph grinned, holding a piece of red fabric up. Midoriya had asked her how she walked around so easily when he first learned she was blind. She had told him that she sensed the earth with her feet, so it was safe to assume that Aang had this ability too.

"Sure! Midoriya?" he asked the other.

"Of course. I couldn't miss it." he replied with a smile.

Todoroki smirked as he sent a blast of ice Katara's way, who immediately melted it and sent it towards Aang in one swift motion.

"Watch out."

Without any hesitation, Toph shifted the earth beneath their feet to simulate a small earthquake, keeping only her area still. They all realised that without proper footing, Toph had already won the fight.

Todoroki created a pillar of ice to stand on, which Katara and Aang immediately melted to steal the water for themselves.

The earthquake broke apart Bakugo's prison enough for him to join the battle. In an instant, he launched himself into the air. With this, Toph couldn't see where he was and he had the advantage of higher ground. Aang had done a similar thing, but he was on a time limit without his glider.

Todoroki and Midoriya had the least advantages here - any ice that Todoroki made would be stolen and Midoriya couldn't get any steady footing. He would have to rely on brute strength alone. 

Using 20% of One For All, he sent an air bullet Toph's way, throwing her off, and leveling the playing field for the rest of them. Taking advantage of her loss of balance, Todoroki froze her feet to the floor; neither Aang nor Katara would take the ice since it would put her back in the game.

On the other hand, they were fully on board with bending Bakugo's sweat away from him, rendering him useless until his body produced more. They sent it towards Midoriya - the energy crackling around him would detonate it, meaning that he had to turn One For All off if he didn't want to be injured.

Left in battle was Aang, Katara and Todoroki. He could only use his left side, which wouldn't be strong enough to take them both down, however the other two lacked physical strength in hand to hand combat.

Suddenly, all three were stuck in place, unable to move.

"You dunderheads forgot about me!" Toph yelled, standing on top of a pedastal.

"Hey, that's not fair!" Aang pushed the earth back into the ground.

"Do you think that the Firelord will fight fair?"

Katara smoothed out her hair once she was free again. "We probably should have set some rules before we started."

The gang laughed, and Midoriya could swear he even saw Bakugo smirk.

He was going to miss them when he got back home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Leave a comment yall


	12. Chapter 12

Kirishima and Zuko stood outside Suki's cell as another guard strolled past.

"I need to go in there." she said in a stern tone. Kirishima quickly knocked on the door, signaling to Sokka inside that someone was coming.

"I'm afraid you can't do that." Zuko said quickly.

"Why not? I have orders directly from the Warden." Zuko panicked and threw the guard at the wall, pinning her there. Sokka managed to sneak out of the cell without getting her attention, but not for long.

"Hey! You two! I think he's an imposter!" Kirishima and Sokka looked at each other. They both knew that in order to not blow their cover completely, they'd have to take Zuko away.

Zuko realised this as they took hold of his arms, and he immediately stopped resisting.

"Its okay, we'll figure it out." Sokka reassured him quietly. 

They followed the guard to a holding cell, where she ripped off his helmet. A gasp escaped her mouth as she realised who it was.

"Prince Zuko?"

Sokka and Kirishima feigned surprise somewhat successfully.

The warden turned around the corner, ready to interrogate the Prince. He signalled for the other two to leave, which they did reluctantly. They couldn't risk anyone else getting caught.

"Do you have any plans?" Kirishima asked. He'd previously been told that his ideas stink more than the UA changing rooms, so he usually just executed the plans rather than came up with them.

"I think I might have something. You know the cooler that the prisoner was sent to?" Kirishima nodded. "It's designed to keep any heat out, so it should keep us safe in the water. Its just a theory for now, but it should work."

"I say we play it safe and test it. As long as we don't attack any more actual guards, we can get away with a lot." Sokka let out a noise of agreement. After all, they had a lot of time before they could speak to Zuko and Suki again.

"I'll look for a blind spot in the watch towers while you get a substitute cooler to test." Kirishima said before the pair separated.

It took a while to get to the perimeter of the prison - he wasn't the best at directions, especially after not being here long. He'd mostly followed people around until now, not paying attention to where he was going.

He stood at the first watchtower before starting his circle. He was nearly back at the beginning when he noticed the blind spot. 

"Oh hey Sokka. Wait, Sokka?"

"I guess I found a blind spot before you did." Sokka stood in front of Kirishima holding a little cardboard boat. "I waited to test it though." 

He slid the boat into the lake, making sure to keep his hand away from the boiling water; it floated across the surface like a leaf. The pair watched as it reached the other side before getting stuck in the current.

They grinned at each other before rushing off to find Zuko and Suki - they should be in the yard by now. 

It didn't take long to find the other two - they stuck out like a sore thumb compared to the rest of the prisoners. At least a foot shorter and not covered head to toe in tattoos and piercings.

"Brilliant, you've already met." Sokka said, approaching them behind some stairs, where they were sweeping the floor.

"Actually, we met a long time ago." Suki pushed her broom past Zuko.

"We did?"

"Yeah... You kinda burned down my village." Kirishima had heard a little about Zuko's past with the gang, but not too much.

"Oh. Sorry about that. Nice to meet you again." Zuko awkwardly said, looking at the ground in shame.

"We've got a plan. The cooler is designed to keep the cold in and the heat out, right?" Sokka explained with extreme hand motions.

"Get to the point." 

"It would make the perfect boat! We've already found the spot to take off. We just need a way to get the cooler out." he pulls a spanner out of his uniform and hands it to Zuko. "Meet us outside the perimeter tonight."

"How do I get in?" Zuko asked as he tucked the tool in his belt.

"I'll sort that out." Kirishima smirked, flicking down his visor. He raised his voice and stepped into the open yard. "Did you just bump into me without saying sorry?"

Zuko followed suit, projecting his voice back. "Yeah, what are you going to do about it?"

"How about this?" he pushed the other further into the yard, nearly throwing him onto the ground. He hoped he wasn't being too violent. 

The firebender was a decent actor, he wasn't going to lie (Zuko was a terrible liar on the other hand). He could scowl convincingly, which he displayed to Kirishima at that moment.

"How about this?" he repeated before sending a blast of fire towards the other, stopping it just short of the others face. 

"Guards!" Kirishima called out, "He just firebended! I need backup!"

Within moments, two buff guards appeared, holding Zuko with his arms firmly behind his back. Kirishima followed them to the cooler, sending a look to Sokka and Suki.

A few hours later, Sokka opened the door to the cooler, revealing Zuko sat with his knees up to his chin in a foetal position.

"Have you learnt your lesson?" he asked, hands on hips.

Zuko breathed a puff of smoke before smirking and replying.

"Yes, I have. Completely." Sokka lifted his visor up slightly to see that the cooler was entirely unbolted.

~~~~~  
(A/n time skip because I don't know how the hell they got that thing all the way to the water from the prison)

Kirishima was watching the gondola role down the wire as Sokka and Zuko pushed the cooler down to the lake. Him and Suki helped it down the final stretch.

"The gondola is bringing in new prisoners. It could be your dad." he said, pushing the metal container into the water.

"I know. We don't have time to wait for him if he is there. I don't want to risk all your freedom for something that might not even happen." Sokka watched the first few prisoners leave the gondola.

"Is that him?"

"My dad doesn't have a nose ring." he watched another two get out, neither of which were his father. "You three, leave. Get out while you can."

"For such a smart guy, you can be really stupid sometimes. We aren't going to let you do this alone." Kirishima said with a reassuring hand on the non benders shoulder.

The last guy walked out of the gondola.

"No... I failed..." Sokka both felt and looked distraught. He had come to the top prison in the world with one goal in mind that he couldn't achieve. "Let's go." he was about to jump in the cooler when they heard a voice from above.

"Hey, you! Get out the gondola!" the four of them looked out one last time, hoping for the best.

A man stepped into the moonlight, about six feet tall with chin length hair, a few strands were braided and hanging down beside his face.

"That's him!"


	13. Chapter 13

"I'm so bored! I must have played Pai Sho a million times already!" Aang complained as he floated to the top of the temple in boredom. 

"You could practise your firebending?" Katara suggested. 

"I've been doing that all morning!" 

"I thought you said you were playing Pai Sho?" Todoroki asked, confused.

"I was."

Katara handed Aang a small pouch filled with coins. "We're nearly out of food. You can go get some vegetables from a small town in the Fire Nation. Wear a hat and cloak."

"Can I come too? I haven't seen much of anything else yet." Midoriya asked, rubbing his neck awkwardly.

"Sure! You might want a hat as well though." Aang laughed before running off to Appa.

Midoriya crawled up the bison's side into the saddle. Just as they were about to take off, he realised that he hadn't ridden on Appa yet and the sheer terror of his situation hit him. He was flying on a bison. Without a seat belt. On a bison. With six legs.

He clung onto the edge of the saddle for dear life while Aang wasn't even sat on a solid area.

"How do you do this all the time?" his knuckles were turning white with how tight he was holding on.

"You get used to it, don't worry."

Usually, he wasn't one for sarcasm, but he couldn't help but mutter "That helps tons." under his breath.

Sure enough, his heart rate slowed after a short while as he became accustomed to the air and his grip loosened.

"Midoriya?" Aang called from the front, "We're almost there. I can see it from here."

Appa flew lower to avoid being seen by civilians while Aang and Midoriya put some hats on. The weather was rather sunny, so wearing hats wasn't too suspicious. Aang decided to ditch the cloak since it would counter their hat disguise and make them even more out of place.

They landed in the hills just south of the town. Aang covered Appa in some leaves before they left for shopping.

"Do we need anything specific?" Midoriya asked as they strolled through the marketplace.

"I don't think so, just fruit and vegetables." Aang replied, picking up an apple. "Ten of these please!"

"It's nice to see that food is the same here." Midoriya lowered his voice as to not raise suspicion. As if on cue, a long pink vegetable caught his eye that he didn't recognise. "Most of the food, anyway."

Aang collected some vegetables in his arms and took them to the stall owner.

"You aren't from around here are you?" she asked, just trying to make small talk as she counted up the price.

"We're... From the next town over." Midoriya answered simply.

At that moment, Aang stumbled over a rock that was lying on the ground, causing his hat to slip askew.

The stall owner got a glimpse of his tattoos; her eyes widened as she gasped.

"You're the avatar!"

"Me? What? No?" Midoriya inwardly face palmed at Aang's terrible acting.

"I thought I recognised you! You're the boy in the wanted posters!" a bystander shouted, pointing at them.

This seemed to catch the local police's attention, as a group of uniformed men started running towards them.

Midoriya quickly activated One For All, sending an air bullet their way, throwing them backwards.

"An airbender?" the stall owner said in disbelief. Midoriya realised his mistake too late - Aang was meant to be the only airbender left.

"Midoriya, run!" Aang pulled him along, heading back to Appa.

They zoomed through the trees, knocking at least two over with the power - they couldn't afford to be slow.

"Yip yip!" Appa took off, the pair on his back.

"Whew. That was close." Aang noticed the other not listening properly, "Midoriya?"

"They're sending a messenger hawk." he pointed to the bird in the sky. "The Firelord will know where we are; we can't stay at the temple much longer." 

"We'll just have to hope that they don't find us before Sokka, Zuko and Kirishima come back."

~~~~~

The Royal messenger walked into the Firelord's throne room, hawk on his shoulder.

He knelt down on one knee out of both respect and fear.

"My lord... We have reason to believe that there is a second airbender alive. And he is working with the Avatar."


	14. Chapter 14

Sokka emerged from his father's cell quietly.

"We have a plan. We need to get all the prisoners into the yard and start a riot. We'll take the Warden hostage and use the gondola to get out." he explained to Kirishima.

"Awesome. Why the Warden?" the other responded.

"If we took any old guard hostage, they would just cut the line. But with the Warden, they won't cut it unless he tells them to." they set off to get the doors opened.

"By the way, I don't suppose you know how to start a riot?" Sokka asked.

"Have I ever told you what my hero name is?"

~~~~~

Zuko meets up with Sokka, Kirishima and Suki in the yard. Hakoda was yet to come.

"We've got an issue." Kirishima could only guess what it could be. "My sister and her friends are here." He has a sister?

"Shit."

"Language, Sokka." Hakoda appears from behind the group, causing them to jump a little. 

"Hey dad! Can you help to start a riot?" Sokka asked. Kirishima was going to start it, but they realised that prison guards aren't meant to start riots - it would probably only get them into more trouble than they needed.

"Watch and learn." Hakoda approached a hench guy with a scar stretching across his face, pushing him over.

"Hey! Why'd you do that? It hurt my feelings." the prisoner started welling up with tears. Zuko and Kirishima glanced at each other, confused.

"Aren't you mad at me?" Hakoda asked.

"Usually I would be but I've been learning to control my anger."

"Ah. I hope you succeed." he walked back to the gang, "That worked well."

"Maybe we should try asking someone politely?" Kirishima suggested. They all looked at him like he'd told them he eats the banana and the peal. "What? It's the only idea we have."

Sokka proceeded to walk up to a different prisoner, even taller than the last.

"Hey Mr Prisoner, could you start a riot for us please?" he used his best innocent voice to plead with the prisoner, who politely smiled back.

"Of course." he picked up the guy he was standing next to, and holding him above his head, he yelled, "HEY, RIOT!"

Within seconds, the yard was in wrecks, fire balls shooting across the sky. It was anarchy - perfect for the plan.

"How do we get up to the Warden?" they could see him on the floor above, snarling at the scene before him.

Without hesitation, Suki leapt across the yard, using heads as stepping stones. The boys followed her around the crowd, not having her incredible agility.

She easily took down two actual guards, both equipped with batons, and moved on to the Warden.

She had his arm held up above his head, fist only inches from his face.

"You wouldn't dare."

In one swift movement, she brought his arms behind his back, tying them with her belt, and bringing the Warden's headband down to his mouth to keep him from crying out.

"Sorry Warden. You're my prisoner now." she said into his ear.

The boys caught up behind her, breathless from running up stairs.

"That's some girl." Hakoda says, regaining breath.

"Tell me about it." Sokka replied.

They followed Suki to the top floor of the prison, proceeding to file into the gondola one by one.

"Stop right there!" a guard called out as he sent a blast of fire towards the gang.

Zuko jumped forwards, redirecting the fire back. He pulled the lever to the gondola before kicking it. Just as it was about to break off, three girls emerged from seemingly nowhere.

One was expressionless and gloomy, the second bubbly and dressed in all pink, and the third appeared stern and controlling.

Zuko finished breaking the lever, and as he jumped to catch the gondola, Kirishima realised that he had a striking resemblance to the third girl. She must be his sister that he mentioned.

The girl in pink leaped onto the wire and ran across it like she was a tightrope walker while the stern one used some handcuffs as a harness on the wire. She used her firebending - which was an electrifying blue hue - to propel herself forwards.

"This is a rematch I've been waiting for." Suki pulled herself onto the roof of the gondola, followed by Sokka and Zuko.

Lastly, Kirishima took his place above, activating his quirk. He and Suki took stances against the girl in pink, while Zuko and Sokka took on the other.

"My, Zuko... It seems you've got yourself some new friends..." she said sarcastically, sending some fire Zuko's way with a spinning kick. She was just as menacing as she appeared, dodging all of her brothers attacks, only just dodging a swing from Sokka's sword.

Suki and the other one were in a one on one fight, sending punches towards each others weak spots one after another. Kirishima decided to step in, whacking her in the stomach. 

He hadn't expected it to have as much impact as it did, since she was flung to the edge of the roof, barely staying on. 

She then turned her attention to Kirishima, jumping closer to get better hits in. She aimed for the point between his collarbone and his arm, which he quickly hardened.

She seemed in shock that her attack had no impact whatsoever - in fact, her fingers took most of the damage. 

Suddenly, the Warden stuck his head out of the window - he must have gotten himself untied during the fight.

"Cut the line!" he shouted to the guards at the other end. They looked at each other, confused before deciding on cutting it.

"They're going to cut the line!" the pink girl exclaimed, panicking slightly.

Zuko's sister looked around for an escape before replying.

"Then it's time to leave." she used her bending to fly to a car on the other line, her friend following her with a high jump.

There was a fair distance between the two cars when the line stopped in its tracks. They started wobbling for a short while before they started moving again.

Kirishima looked out the window.

"Who's that?" he asked, pointing to the gloomy girl who was taking down every single guard trying to stop the car.

"That's Mai." Zuko answered, looking back at his ex girlfriend. 

The car soon reached the edge of the volcano, their way out. The five of them hopped out the gondola, happy to be on solid ground again.

They looked back one last time before Zuko spoke up.

"My sister was here."

"Yeah, and if we don't get out, she's gonna fry us!" Sokka responded.

"What I mean is that she must have gotten here somehow." he runs off to find their way out, the rest of them following.

Kirishima had completely forgotten that the war balloon was destroyed on the way in, however the airship they found was much smoother in the air.

Within a few hours, the cliffside was in sight. It had been a few days since they left, they couldn't wait to see the rest of the gang again.


	15. Chapter 15

Aang awoke from his sleep, rubbing his eyes and stretching out.

As if from no where, a flaming bomb appeared, approaching the temple at an alarming rate. Aang becomes alert and sends it off course with a blast of air, waking the others in the process. 

A second bomb was sent, this one being sent out the way by Midoriya.

Aang used airbending to close them in out of sight, but the room was immediately obliterated by a third bomb.

The entire gang was fully alert and on guard as they find their feet among the rubble.

Toph bent a tunnel through the cliffside, large enough for Appa. 

"Everyone, through here!" she started to run towards her exit when Aang called out. 

"We can't, Appa hates tunnels!" 

"How are we supposed to get out the other way? There's an awful lot of fire in that general direction." Suki said, helping Sokka over the wreckage. 

"You can go, I'll take Appa this way." 

"We aren't letting you go alone!" Katara pleaded with him. 

Todoroki spoke up, "I have an idea but it's risky." 

"Anything!" 

"Bakugo flies out, distracts them while Aang takes Appa. I can get out with my ice." he quickly explains. 

"You kids go. I'll be fine on my own." Hakoda said making his way through the tunnel. Katara quickly caught up and hugged him tightly. 

"Be safe." 

"You too." 

Everyone was climbing onto Appa when Aang noticed Zuko hesitating. 

"What are you doing?" 

"I've got a feeling this is a family visit. Go ahead, I'll hold them off!" Zuko replied, taking place next to Bakugo and Todoroki, who would be getting out on their own and catching up later. 

As they took off, a girl rose from an airship, the girl that Kirishima recognised from the Boiling Rock, Zuko's sister.

"What are you doing here, Azula?" Zuko shouted.

"You mean it's not obvious yet? I'm about to celebrate becoming an only child!" she called back with a sickly humorous tone in her voice.

The three glanced at each other before taking off. Bakugo took to the air, taking down an airship with ease before continuing out. He would have destroyed more, but he was less powerful in the air.

Todoroki used his ice to slide down the edge of the cliff before rising up the other side again. He would wait for the others here.

Zuko jumped over to the airship with his sister on, sending a fireblast while dodging one himself.

They fight back and forth for a short while, unclear who would come out victorious.

Azula leapt onto another airship, giving some distance between the two. Zuko followed suit, jumping after her.

Zuko sent a fire fist her way, nearly knocking her over the side. The ship shook a little, finishing the job for them both, causing them both to fall off.

Appa appeared under Zuko, catching him mid-air. The gang watched in horror, not expecting Azula to make it out alive.

"She's not going to make it..." Zuko said, almost sad.

She spun out of control before controlling her movement to a place where she could use her fire as a jetpack, propelling her to the edge of the cliff.

She rapidly took the pin out of her hair and stabbed the wall with it. It slowed her fall before she came to a complete stop. Hair flowing in the wind, she looked out at her brother and his friends escaping her grasp once again.

"Of course she did." Zuko said, not at all surprised that she pulled through.

Aang took one last look at the temple before it was destroyed by the bombs.

They landed Appa next to Todoroki and Bakugo, who were happy to join the rest of the gang on the bisons back.

"Who was that?" Midoriya asked, trembling slightly. He hadn't been woken up to an explosion for a while now and it threw him off guard.

"That was my sister, Azula." Zuko said.

"She looks like a bitch." Bakugo replied, blunt as ever. Zuko just nodded in agreement. 

"Will we have to fight her as well as your dad?" Kirishima asked.

"Most likely."

"Wait, you're a Prince?" everyone looked at Bakugo.

"Yes? I thought you knew." Zuko said. "You have been calling me 'Your Royal Fucking Highness' since we met." 

"You just act like a Prince." Bakugo started sulking in the corner of the saddle, facing out. 

"I am a Prince." 

The rest of the gang giggled as they flew through the cool morning air.


	16. Chapter 16

"Hi." Todoroki approached Zuko, who was sitting on a rock outside of Katara's tent. "What are you doing?"

He takes a seat next to the other.

"I'm waiting for Katara to wake up. I have some information that I think she'll like." Zuko replied.

It was an ungodly hour, but they were both wide awake. They sat in silence for practically the rest of the night until Katara left her tent.

"You look terrible." she said almost immediately after seeing Zuko.

"I waited out here all night." he replied.

"What do you want?" she combed through her hair impatiently.

"I know who killed your mother. And I'm going to help you find him." Todoroki's eyes widened as he heard this. He stayed silent until Katara had left before confronting Zuko.

"That's what this is about? I haven't exactly had the best familial life myself, but this is-"

"Something that has to be done." Zuko finished his sentence. "If nothing else, it'll help her trust me more."

"Let me come with you." both Todoroki and Zuko were surprised at what he'd said. Saying nothing else, he turned and walked back to his own tent.

Due to the limited supplies, everyone had to share a tent with at least one other person - except Sokka for some reason. Todoroki ended up in a tent with Midoriya, even though he barely used it.

"Shoto, you really should get more sleep. Having such an irregular sleep pattern can't be healthy." Midoriya said as he walked into the tent. He had obviously realised that Todoroki hadn't been there all night.

"Izuku, do you remember when Iida went after Stain?" he looked up at the other and nodded. "Katara wants to find her mother's killer."

The look on Midoriya's face dropped as he heard this.

"I'm going to go with her and Zuko."

~~~~~

"Katara, I don't like this." Aang and Sokka were pleading with them not to go.

"I knew you wouldn't understand." Katara said, tieing her hair back.

"No, I do. That's why I don't want you to do this!"

"She needs this, Aang." Zuko said. They were packing supplies onto Appa for their journey. They expected to take at least a day.

"What about you?" Aang turned to Todoroki. "What do you think?"

"I've experienced first hand impacts of trying to get revenge. Let us go, I'm sure Katara will choose whatever is right in the end." he answered. He wasn't going to give an in depth explanation if he had to.

"You're going too?" Sokka practically shouted.

"Yes." 

The rest of the time spent at camp was just Aang and Sokka begging the three not to go. Kirishima, Bakugo and Toph stayed out of it, probably because they were already asleep, even though it was only 9pm. 

Katara was the one to steer Appa. She was fully prepared to stay awake for the entire journey, but Zuko made her go to sleep for a little while - "You'll need your strength."

They started at the Fire Navy Communications Tower. They would be able to find out where the Southern Raiders were located. From there, they'd find the captain.

They managed to get through the ventilation system of the tower relatively easy, but the plans room was occupied. Katara bent some ink onto a map of the Southern Water Tribe, just enough for the woman sitting at the desk to leave to get a new map.

Todoroki created some ice to help breaking the hinges to the vent - Zuko and Katara proceeded to drop down into the room to peak at the plans before hearing someone coming.

As quickly as he could, Todoroki made a thin ladder from ice, which was promptly climbed and melted by Katara and Zuko.

"The monster's at Whale Tail Island." Katara whispered as she claimed back through the vents.

~~~~~

Katara and Todoroki slept on the way to Whale Tail Island while Zuko steered.

"Wake up, we're nearly there." he said, shaking the other two slightly. He dove into the sea once Katara was able to bend the water into a submarine before emerging at the Southern Raiders main ship, taking all the crew members off guard. 

Tens of fire blasts were sent their way, which Zuko and Todoroki quickly redirected.

Katara used the water in a tentacle like fashion to throw the soldiers into the ocean. She didn't care whether they were injured or not. They worked for her mother's murderer.

The left Appa on deck as they stormed through the ship to the wheelhouse, taking down everyone in their path with ease. 

Katara breaks down the door with her water tentacles, and the man - presumably the man they were after - sent several blasts their way which were dissipated by Zuko.

Todoroki could see Katara bending, but didn't realise what exactly she was bending until he saw the captain pin himself down with jerkish movements. He knew that she could bend the blood in animals, but she refused to do it according to Midoriya.

He had severely mistaken how far she was willing to bend her morals to get revenge for her mother.

(A/n iTs nOt rEvEnGe, iTs cLoSuRe)

"Who are you?" the captain managed to get out after the original shock had worn away enough for him to speak.

"You don't recognise her? Think back to your last raid on the Southern Water Tribe!" Zuko shouted, crouching near the man.

"I don't know what you're talking about! Please believe me!" he pleaded with them.

Suddenly, Katara released her grip on his movements as her eyes widened.

"Its not him." her words were barely audible as she said them, as if she couldn't believe she went this far on an innocent man. She turned around to leave when Todoroki froze the man to the wall.

"You must be looking for Yon Rha! He retired four years ago!" he was begging for his life by now - he didn't know the extent they would go. Todoroki tightened his grip slightly as a warning and a threat for him to carry on talking. "He lives in Phoenix Village in the Fire Nation!"

~~~~~

The old man walked through his village, a bag of tomatoes in both hands. 

He glanced over his shoulder with a shiver and the sensation of someone watching his every move. 

"Show yourself!" he shouted, sending fire in the general direction of a bush, lighting it ablaze. 

When no one appeared, he shrugged his feeling off as nothing. 

He looked up at the grey sky as it started to rain.

"Typical." he muttered before starting to walk again.

A thin trail of ice followed him a few steps, coating the ground with a crystalline blanket. 

Without warning, a man - no, a boy - jumped out from behind a tree. He pinned Yon Rha down as two other figures emerged.

"Do you remember me?" one of the three said, pulling down her mask, glaring into his soul. "You'd better remember me like your life depends on it!"

He looked the girl dead in the eye before realising who he was facing.

"You're the little water tribe girl!" he remembered his last raid on the Southern Water Tribe. There was a small girl, trying to hide with her mother. Her mother, who he proceeded to set alight.

"My mother lied to you!" 

He gulped. 

"She was protecting the last waterbender!"

The girl paused for a moment, as if waiting for a response.

"Me!" 

She took her arms out either side, bending the rain into a dome around the four of them.

The other two pulled their masks down as well. Yon Rha could see the awe on their faces as much as he could see on his own.

The dome changed state, sending daggers of ice accelerating towards him. His life flashed before his eyes as he covered his face with his arm. He knew that there was no getting out of this.

At the very last second, the ice melted, soaking Yon Rha head to foot.

"I always wondered what kind of a person would do such horrible things... But now I see that you're just a pathetic, miserable, old man." she started. She looked him dead in the eye. "Don't think for one second that I've forgiven you. I just can't bring myself to kill you."

Yon Rha sat in place as the trio walked off. He could hear a faint "I'm proud of you, Katara." in the distance while he picked up his bags of tomatoes.


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is stupidly long compared to the rest. I didn't want to split it into two because I thought there wouldn't be enough but I was wrong, and it's nearly 2000 words, most of which are dialogue. You can skip it, it's not really important or anything, I just wanted to make fun of these characters.

"Guys!" Sokka rushed up to the gang. "There's a play about us!" 

He held up a poster with Aang, Sokka and Katara on it, and Zuko's recognisable face as the background.

"I don't know. People might recognise us. We're already on thin ice, staying in the Firelord's personal holiday home." Katara said. Since her and Zuko had made up, they'd moved locations to Ember Island, where the royal family used to come on holiday.

"I told you, no one's come here since my family was actually happy. Which is a hell of a long time." he said, earning a scoff from Bakugo.

"Depressing much?"

"I think we should go. If anyone asks why we look like... us, we can just say we're in costume!" Sokka said excitably.

The heroes were curious to see what happened before they arrived, especially with Zuko.

"It wouldn't hurt to go see it. If anything, it could help!" Kirishima pointed out. He was possibly the most intruiged - he wanted background on Azula, Mai and Ty Lee.

~~~~~

"Shhh, the curtains are opening!" Katara whispered. She'd caved in after Sokka and Kirishima begged. Zuko wasn't happy. He claimed that the Ember Island Players - the theatre troup putting on the play - butchered Love Amongst the Dragons every year he was forced to see it with his Mom. Bakugo was also displeased; he'd have to stay quiet for more than a minute.

Midoriya watched in anticipation as he watched actor Sokka and Katara paddling a canoe on stage.

They seemed thrilled to see an interpretation of themselves on stage, however the actors hadn't opened their mouths yet. 

"Oh, Sokka, my only brother! We constantly roam these lonely seas, yet we never find anything... Fulfilling!" actor Katara cried with overly dramatic motions and tone.

"All I want is a full feeling in my stomach; I'm starving!" actor Sokka replied, looking out into the audience waiting for a reaction.

Everyone laughed aside from the gang. Sokka and Katara were horrified.

"Is food the only thing on your mind?" 'Katara' asked, just as over the top as her previous line.

"I'm trying to get it out of my mind, and into my mouth!" actor Sokka replied, once again waiting for the audience to respond.

"This is ridiculous! My jokes are way funnier than this!" the real Sokka exclaimed. 

Real Katara watched herself give a second whiney speach about the hopelessness of the world when a giant blue sphere rolled onto stage, presumably an iceberg.

The silhouette of what was clearly Aang could be seen from behind it.

"It appears to be someone frozen in ice! Perhaps for 100 years! Water bending slice, hiya!" the 'iceberg' cracked down the middle, and a small woman jumped out wearing a bald cap and traditional Air Nomad colours. 

"I'm the Avatar, here to spread joy and fun!" actor Aang said, leaping about the stage.

Aang looked humiliated. 

"Is that a woman playing me?" he said, leaning forward, as if he was trying to see that it wasn't. 

"My heart is so full of hope that it's making me tearbend!" actor Katara cried while gripping onto 'Aang's' leg and crying.

"My stomach is so empty that it's making me tearbend!" actor Sokka said.

'Aang' pointed to a spot in the sky.

"Is that a platter of meaty dumplings?" when 'Sokka' started looking around desperately, he laughed. "Haha! Did I mention that I'm an incurable prankster?" 

The lights dimmed for a moment while the stage hands rolled the iceberg off the stage. When the lights turned back on, a ship could be seen. At the front, a man with a ponytail and a scar over his right eye stood with a telescope. 

Behind him was a rather fat man holding a slice of cake. They guessed that this was Zuko's Uncle Iroh - the one he had betrayed that loved tea, metaphors and terrible jokes (though they were only terrible when Zuko tried to tell them). 

"Prince Zuko, you must try this cake!" actor Iroh holds a large cake up to the audience, causing a slight reaction. 

"I don't have time to stuff my face! I must capture the Avatar and regain my honour!" actor Zuko proclaimed, using exaggerated motions.

"Well while you do that, maybe I'll capture another slice." he heartily laughed before scoffing the cake loudly.

"You disgust me!" actor Zuko said.

Bakugo couldn't help but burst out laughing at the look on real Zuko's face.

"They make me look totally stiff and humourless!" he claimed, watching himself be rude to his uncle. Mostly, he hates how accurate it is for that period of his life.

The rest of Act 1 was just as terrible as the first five minutes. At least Bakugo and Toph found it funny - "What you see up there is the truth, like it or not." Toph had said.

When Act 2 started, Katara and Sokka had gotten most of their complaining out of their system, but Aang was still incredibly annoyed at his portrayal. 

"I need an earthbending teacher!" actor Aang proclaimed, before lifting off the stage on a wire and flying around the theatre. "I searched all around town but I couldn't find anyone."

Toph was on the edge of her seat when she knew that she was about to appear.

"You can't search the sky for an earthbender. You need to look underground!" a heavily muscled man rose from a trapdoor under the stage wearing Earth Kingdom colours and a terrible wig covering his eyes. He stood at least a foot above the other three actors. "My name is Toph, because it sounds like tough!"

The real Toph looked ecstatic at her portrayal, though it took a moment to realise that it was meant to be her.

"Are you really blind?" actor Aang asked, waving a hand in front of 'Toph's' face.

"I can see you doing that. I see everything you do, except I don't see like you do. I release a sonic wave from my mouth that let's me see things." actor Toph let out a scream that left everyone else dead silent from the shock.

Real Toph chuckled slightly.

"I sound like you, Ultra Sparky."

Bakugo looked ready to kill, but Kirishima held him back. He didn't want their cover blown, or worse, a dead friend. 

They watched themselves fighting Azula and the Dai Li, with the heroes occasionally asking the odd question, such as "What the hell went on here?"

The second Act ended with Aang's temporary death and Zuko pushing his Uncle off the stage in an overly comedic fashion. The real Zuko sunk into his seat as he watched his biggest regret in life. 

"It seems every time you guys have a battle, you barely make it out alive." Suki pointed out once they were in the Foyer. 

Midoriya laughed slightly earning a sarcastic comment from Bakugo. 

"Why are you laughing, you break every bone in your body after every big fight we have." 

When act 3 began, Aang was no where to be found. When he finally showed up, he asked what he missed.

"We went the Fire Nation, Katara was the Painted Lady, I got a sword and Zuko's joined us." Sokka answered speaking quickly so he didn't miss anything.

"Let's explore the Western Air Temple!" actor Aang said. The real Aang sat down to watch.

"Hi there!" a second airbender flew onto stage.

"Who are you?" 'Katara' asked the airbender.

"I'm Midoriya! I've been hiding in the Air Temple all my life!" the real Midoriya sunk in his seat.

Actor Katara dropped to her knees, sobbing.

"You fill my heart with so much hope!"

Suddenly, the lights flashed and actor Sokka spoke out.

"It's Sparky Sparky Boom Man!" A man with spiky blonde hair stepped out from behind the curtains, a scowl drawn on his face with makeup. "What do you want?"

"I've come to join your group. My name isn't Sparky Sparky Boom Man, it's Bakugo."

Everyone could sense the expression on real Bakugo's face go from mild amusement to murderous without having to look. Fortunately, he didn't blow the whole theatre up, since the scene soon changed.

The lights became a pale blue and the music shifted to a more spiritual sound. The actors on stage cleared from the center as another actor dropped down from the ceiling.

"My name... Is Todoroku." the actors entire right side was painted white and his entire left was painted red, and he was donned with a long beard that matched the colour scheme. "I am the spirits of the first water Avatar and the previous fire Avatar reincarnated to help your journey."

Todoroki flushed red at his character while everyone else snickered to themselves.

While the lights changed back to the yellow colour for the rest of the stage, the light on 'Todoroku' remained a faint blue to signify his 'spirituality'.

The scene changed to be the Boiling Rock as everyone walked off stage. The Sokka, Zuko and Suki actor crept around the stage for a while until they were confronted by someone in a guard uniform.

"Are you trying to escape?" the actors looked guilty as they shook their head violently. "Don't worry, I'm an undercover earth bender! I'll help! The names Kiri by the way!"

Real Kirishima grinned at his portrayal.

"Hell yeah, this is awesome!" he whispered, still with a smile on his face.

After an overly dramatic fight with Azula and Ty Lee, they got out of the Boiling Rock.

"I guess its caught up to the present." Sokka shrugged and went to stand up before Suki pulled him back.

"No, there's still some more."

He turned back to the stage to see the Firelord standing on top of a pillar, making himself look important.

"I am Firelord Ozai, supreme ruler of the Fire Nation! Sozins comet has arrived, and I shall conquer the world!" a fake comet flew overhead as the music picked up pace.

"Oh no!" actor Aang leaped on stage. "We're too late!"

The actor Ozai raises his hands as a curtain of red is lifted from the bottom of the stage. It engulfs the actor who makes a screaming noise before dropping limp.

Actor Zuko and actor Azula faced each other, throwing ribbons around until one hit 'Zuko' directly, killing him instantly.

Everyone watched in horror as this played out. The sudden realisation of how risky their lives were dawned on them.

"Its okay, this is just propaganda. We aren't all going to die." Todoroki tried reassuring them, unsuccessfully.

"The way you worded that makes it sound that some of us will definitely die." Suki commented as the actors took their bows.

"That happens?" the gang stood up to make their way out of the theatre. They were in the Foyer when they overheard someone talking with their friend.

"Introducing all of those new characters at the end was just confusing. Are they real?"

"The writer probably just took some creative liberty to make it more interesting."

Once they had left the theatre, they were free to complain about the play as much as they wanted.

"That was... Not good" 

"The effects were decent." 

"I'm not that fucking third eyed freak!" Bakugo complained, blowing up a rock out of anger.

"They even gave you the forehead thing!" Toph laughed, sparking everyone else to do the same.


	18. Chapter 18

No one knew quite how, but Sokka had managed to convince Zuko to stop training with Aang and have a beach party.

Quite in character, Zuko elected to spend it inside.

Katara and Todoroki were surfing in the water while Midoriya and Kirishima were playing volleyball (Kirishima was winning by a lot; recreational sports isn't Midoriya's forte).

Bakugo and Suki were sunbathing and Sokka was attempting to build a sculpture of Suki incredibly unsuccessfully.

Toph was practising bending sand while Aang watched in awe.

Seemingly out of nowhere, Zuko leapt out of the house and onto the beach, sending blasts of fire at Aang, but also covering Bakugo with sand and blowing Sokka's Suki sculpture up.

Aang quickly evaded the attacks, heading back into the house. Zuko furrowed his brow(s?), following him, never stopping his fire to let him breathe.

Aang used his air to knock furniture in the others way which his promptly burst into flames and jumped over.

Finally, the Avatar sent a strong blast of wind at Zuko, throwing him back through the wall and into the bushes below.

"What's wrong with you? You could of hurt Aang!" Katara angrily said.

Bakugo scoffed. "Based on this shitshow and your past relationship he can barely lay a finger on any of you." 

"Quiet."

"Sozins Comet is in three days and you can just sit around throwing beach parties?" Zuko shouted, getting off the ground.

"Actually... I was thinking of waiting until after the comet to confront the Firelord." Aang mumbled out as he rubbed the back of his neck.

"Are you an idiot?" Bakugo asked, blunt as ever.

"And you didn't tell me?" Zuko asked, with a hint of sarcasm in his tone.

"Zuko has got a point, Aang. It's obvious that they'll be planning something big for it, and we can't let it happen." Todoroki pointed out.

"I didn't want to have to tell you this, but before I left, I was in an important war meeting." Aang suddenly looked attentive. "He said that he would burn the Earth Kingdom to the ground."

"And you didn't think to tell us?" Sokka asked harshly.

"I didn't think I'd have to." Zuko snapped back. 

"Everything's gonna be fine, Aang. We're here for you." Midoriya reassured.

"Yeah! Team Avatar is back! Air! Water! Earth! Fire! Superheroes! Fan and sword!" Sokka yelled, making his way around the group. 

"This is going to be the hardest thing we've ever done together, but I wouldn't want to do it any other way." everyone joined Aang in a group hug aside from Bakugo and Zuko (even Todoroki joined in, even though he was partly dragged in by Midoriya).

"Get in, you two. Being part of the group also means being part of group hugs." Katara said, pulling them into the hug.

~~~~~

"There's one technique you'll need to know before facing my father. How to redirect lightening." Zuko told Aang. "If you let the energy in your body flow, the lightening will follow it."

Midoriya and Todoroki were sat on some steps near where they were training playing with Momo.

"That's like waterbending!" Aang pointed out as Zuko showed him the positions and directions of energy. Aang followed his movements.

"Exactly. My uncle invented this technique by studying waterbenders."

"Have you ever had to use it?" Aang inquired.

Zuko stopped doing his positions. "Once. Against my father."

"What did it feel like?"

He looked at his hands as he answered. "Exhilarating. You feel so powerful holding all that power in your body." He looked up for a moment. "Speaking of which... Midoriya!" he called.

Midoriya's attention was grabbed by the sound of his name. "Yeah, Zuko?" He walked over to Zuko and Aang.

"When I lost my bending and we had that battle, I made direct contact with you for just a moment. It felt the same as when I redirected lightening." the firebender replied.

"It's not actual lightening, it's just energy." Midoriya commented kind of sheepishly.

"Could you activate your quirk for me?" Zuko asked. The other nodded, letting One For All loose.

Zuko breathed in before grabbing Midoriya's hand, pointing his other hand to the sky. 

The entire gang watched from different parts of the island as a blast of electricity shot into the air. It was difficult to miss, and the whole island probably saw it.

Zuko quickly lets go of Midoriya as Katara comes running into the yard where they were practising.

"What the hell was that?" she asked, baffled. 

Midoriya deactivated One For All and Zuko looked shocked.

"I found a way of converting the energy of Midoriya's quirk into lightening. I didn't know I could do that. Holy shit." quite honestly, Zuko would say that he'd never felt more alive than in that moment.

The energy running through his veins woke him up to his own power.

~~~~~

"Guys, guess what I've found!" Katara appeared, holding a large scroll. "Baby pictures of Zuko!"

She unraveled the scroll to reveal a drawing of a baby with a tuft of black hair playing in the sand. The gang all laughed except for Zuko.

"Lighten up, Zuko. We're only messing." Katara said, lowering the paper.

"That's not me. That's my father." he said. The gang went silent.

"But... He's so cute and tiny?" Suki wondered what could have made this baby into Ozai.

"Well he grew up to be the worst person ever."

"But he's still human." Aang said. He had been sitting in silence until now; it was obvious to everyone else that something was eating him up.

"Are you defending him?" Bakugo asked snidely.

"No! It's true that the world would be better off without him, but-"

"So why are you hesitating?"

"I can't bring myself to take someone else's life! It goes against everything the monks taught me!" Aang raised his voice. "I've held these ideals all my life, and I am not going against them now! When one of you comes up with an idea of how to defeat the Firelord without taking his life, I'd love to hear it!"

The gang once again goes silent as Aang storms off.

"I have baby photos of Midoriya and Bakugo if anyone wants to see them." Todoroki changed the subject, turning on his phone for the first time in days.

~~~~~

Midoriya woke up with a start. He was stressing himself with the comet coming in two days now, and he couldn't rest properly for the life of him.

He left his room to go to the bathroom and splash his face with water. He quietly opened the door when he noticed some candles burning on the balcony.

He went to blow them out, but as he did, he noticed something moving on the beach.

"Aang?" he called out, just loud enough so that he should be able to hear it from the sand.

Aang didn't turn around, he just kept walking towards the sea, so naturally, Midoriya went to investigate.

"Aang?" he repeated, putting his hand on the other's shoulder when he had caught up. Aang didn't respond, or even react in the slightest, he just continued to walk.

He didn't stop when he reached the water, however he started to swim out.

It was then that Midoriya noticed a huge island that he could have sworn wasn't there earlier. Intruiged by the island, Midoriya decided to follow Aang.

After all, he could always hold him back if he tried to get into danger, right?


	19. Chapter 19

"Oh good, you're awake." Midoriya said once he noticed Aang open his eyes.

"Where are we?" he asked, looking around.

"I don't know, I followed you out here last night. You just started swimming out to some island that randomly appeared." needless to say, Aang looked incredibly confused.

"And you didn't try to stop me?"

"I thought you might be sleep walking! It's dangerous to wake someone up when they're sleep walking." Midoriya defended himself. "Momo's here too, if that helps."

"How do we get back if the island comes and goes? What if we're late for the comet?" Aang started pacing back and forth before an idea came to him. "I'll go to the top of the island to see if I can see anything."

Midoriya watched as Aang jumped up to the top of the trees around them.

"This is an issue." he said, coming down. "I can't see dry land for miles." 

"Can you earthbend?" Midoriya asked as he felt the ground. "This doesn't seem like normal earth." 

Aang did a punching motion into the air. "It's not earth."

He flopped onto the ground feeling defeated.

"I'm stumped. I wish I had Roku. Wait! I do have Roku!" he moved into a cross legged position to meditate. 

A blue light appeared from his body as an old man appeared in front of him. Midoriya guessed that this was Roku, the previous Avatar.

In an effort to pass the time, he decided to contact All Might - he hadn't done it in a while and he wanted to tell him that he was safe.

...  
....  
.....  
......  
.......  
........  
.........

"Young Midoriya! Nice to see you again!"

"All Might! Hi!" Midoriya responded to the ex hero in front of him.

"Where are you now? This place looks different from the last time." he asked, looking around. "And who's that?"

"That's Aang, he's the Avatar. I don't know where we are. It's a disappearing island that isn't made of earth." Midoriya answered. He didn't bother explaining what the Avatar was since All Might was more focused on the 'disappearing island' part.

"Huh? What about the others?"

"They should be on Ember Island, but they might have gone to the Earth Kingdom by now."

The look on All Might's face was priceless. "You don't know where you are, and they don't either? Aizawa was right when he said we need a tracking device for you all." 

Midoriya laughed before he replied. "It's fine, Aang and Zuko are literally celebrities, it won't be hard to find each other."

"Okay, be safe and don't get into any danger until we can find a way to get you home." he didn't dare to tell All Might that he was about to help fight the most powerful and evil man in the world. He'd leave that conversation for later.

When he disconnected himself, Aang was now talking to another Air Nomad Avatar - he could tell from her tattoos. From listening to the final part of their conversation, she seemed like kind of a bummer to have around.

"This is hopeless." Aang said once he had left behind his past lives. "I don't want to have to go against my beliefs, and everyone still tells me to kill Ozai. And we still don't know where we are!"

He looked out into the distance in sadness when he noticed something.

"Hey, Midoriya? Is it just me, or are those mountains getting bigger?" he pointed to the cliffside, which were barely specks when he first spotted them, however they were now visibly shaped.

"Not bigger, closer! I think we're moving!" they ran to the edge of the 'island' to see the water moving behind them. Aang jumped into the sea, bending the water to go deeper.

When he emerged, he called out to Midoriya. "I think we're on the back of an animal! There's a foot down here!" he started swimming around the edge, looking for a face. The other ran to the front of the island to find Aang already there. 

A paw rose from the water, allowing Aang to stand on a solid surface. Midoriya hopped onto the paw next to him to see the face of a lion on the so called island. It looked as though it were made of wood, however it was clearly a living creature.

"A lion turtle!" Aang exclaimed, bowing down. Midoriya followed suit. "Maybe you can help me. Everyone, even my past lives are expecting me to end someone's life, but I don't know if I can do it."

The lion turtle replied seemingly without moving. "The true mind can weather all the lies and illusions without being lost. The true heart can tough the poison of hatred without being harmed. Since beginningless time, darkness thrives in the void but always yields to purifying light."

It held two claws up against Aang's forehead and heart; a blinding light appeared, illuminating the world for what could be miles. 

"One in a strange land would attempt to hide away. They will attempt to become invisible and stagnant. Standing up is vital to find one's way home." it repeated the action with Midoriya.

He felt a surge of energy rush through his body for a moment before it was gone. It was similar to the sensation of using One For All for the first time at the UA entrance exam, only more foreign and exhilarating.

Momo landed in his hair as they approached the cliffs.

The lion turtle held them up, indicating for them to move off its paw.

"Wait for him. He will come." it told them before sinking back into to sea.


	20. Chapter 20

Toph woke up at the feeling of people coming nearer. She took down her earth tent as a ring of fire surrounded her and the gang 

When they woke up yesterday and noticed Aang, Midoriya and Momo were missing, they ended up on a wild goose chase around the Earth Kingdom.

Their final destination was Ba Sing Se, the Earth Kingdom capital. They had changed their search for Zuko's Uncle Iroh, which led them there.

Todoroki looked up to see four elderly men standing on top of some rubble.

"Who are these?" he whispered to Katara.

They were all dressed in the same blue robes with a collar that had a white lotus design on it.

"Well look who showed up." one of the men said, laughing and snorting.

"These are great masters and old friends of ours." Katara bows to one of the old men. "Pakku."

"It is respectful to bow to an old master, but how about a hug for your new grandfather?" the man replies, holding his arms out for a hug.

Meanwhile, Sokka was bowing to another of the men, this one visibly younger than the rest with a sword hanging off a loop in his belt.

"This is Aang's first firebending teacher, Jeong Jeong." Katara introduced Zuko to a third man, presumably the one who made the ring of fire around them.

"How do you all know each other?" Suki asked.

"All old people know each other." one of them said, laughing ridiculously again.

"We're part of an ancient secret society that transcends the four nations called the White Lotus." the man Sokka bowed to - Piandao - explained. "We got a call about a month ago saying that we were needed for something important. It was from your Uncle."

Zuko smiled when Toph replied. "That's who we're looking for."

They started to take them to see Iroh when the laughing man interrupted.

"Wait! Someone's missing from your group! Where's Momo?"

"He's gone. So are Aang and Midoriya." Sokka answered, taking a step back - the man had moved incredibly close to him.

"We heard about the second airbender. Its hard to believe that there's another." Jeong Jeong said.

"There isn't." Kirishima spoke up. "Midoriya isn't an airbender."

They started walking towards the White Lotus camp as they were talking.

"So none of you are from our earth?" they came to a stop.

"You're uncle is in there, Prince Zuko." Piandao pointed to a tent at the far end of camp. Zuko nodded and walked to where he pointed.

He stood outside the tent, hesitating when Katara and Todoroki appeared next to him.

"Are you okay?" Todoroki asks, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"No, I'm not okay. My uncle hates me, I know it. He loved and supported me in every way he could, and I still turned against him. How can I even face him?" Zuko sat down, exasperated at himself. The other two followed him.

"You feel sorry for what you did, don't you?" Katara asked softly.

Zuko nodded before replying. "More sorry than anything in my life."

"Then he'll forgive you." he smiled at his friends and stands up again. Katara and Todoroki smile back as he enters the tent. 

"You think he'll be okay?" Todoroki said once Zuko was inside.

"Is Uncle is as much like his Father as fire is like water. He'll do just fine." they stood up to join the others again.

~~~~~

The gang was sat with Iroh around a small campfire, eating some vegetable soup.

"Aang and Midoriya still haven't shown face, huh?" Suki asked, sitting down next to Sokka.

They shook their heads.

"If we don't find them before the comet arrives, I don't know what will happen." he answered, taking a sip of his soup.

"Uncle, you're the only person other than the Avatar who could possibly defeat the Fatherlord."

"You mean the Firelord?"

"That's what I said." Zuko said, somewhat annoyed.

"No, it is not the right way to end the war. History will see it as senseless violence, a brother fighting a brother for power." Iroh declined his nephews request.

"You're real principled, aren't you?" Bakugo was sitting in between Toph and Kirishima, playing with his soup rather than actually eating it.

"If Aang doesn't show up by tomorrow, would you like to fight him?" Zuko asked. The way Bakugo smirked made it obvious what his answer was. He just wanted to kick some royal fascist ass.

"Uncle, when the war is over, will you take your rightful place on the throne?" Iroh shook his head.

"No. Someone new must take the throne. An idealist with a pure heart and unquestionable honor. It has to be you, Prince Zuko."

"Me?"

"Hell yeah, dude. You'd be perfect!" Kirishima said excitedly.

"Zuko, you must return to the Fire Nation, so that when the Fire Lord falls, you can assume the throne and restore peace and order. But Azula will be there, waiting for you." Iroh told him in his infinite wisdom.

"I can handle Azula."

"Not alone. You'll need help."

Bakugo was going to say something but Kirishima jabbed him in the ribs to keep him from being sarcastic.

"Katara, Todoroki? Would you like to help me put Azula in her place?" Zuko asked.

Katara smirked. "It would be our pleasure."

"We'll take control of the airship fleet. If Aang shows up, he'll have reinforcement if he needs it." Sokka said, referring to him, Suki, Toph, Kirishima and Bakugo.

The gang retreated to their tents for the night once their conversion was over.

When they woke up, the White Lotus was already prepared for their departure.

"Nothing runs or swims faster than a giant eal hound. The airship fleet is just off the coast of the Earth Kingdom." Piandao pointed to a spot on the map. "You should reach it in roughly a day."

"Thank you, Master." Sokka said, bowing. The rest copied him.

"What will you do when I'm Firelord?" Zuko asked his Uncle as he mounted Appa.

"After I reconquer Ba Sing Se, I'm going to reconquer my tea shop, and play Pai Sho every day!" he replied, throwing a lotus tile into the air before catching it.

"Goodbye, General Iroh." Katara said, joining Zuko and Todoroki on Appa.

"Goodbye everyone. Today, destiny is our friend. I know it."


	21. Chapter 21

"It's weird to say, but it's actually really beautiful." Suki said, watching the comet souring overhead.

"Too bad the Firelord is going to try and use it to destroy the Earth Kingdom." Toph was leaning over the side of the eal hound's saddle as she said this.

"You look incredibly calm considering you live in the Earth Kingdom." Kirishima pointed out.

The eal hound arrived at the shore when the airships began to take off.

"We're too late!" Sokka realised.

"No we're not. Where's the nearest airship?" Toph asked once she was off the eal hound. She didn't wait for an answer before launching her, Suki and Sokka into the air with earthbending.

Kirishima held onto Bakugo as he took off. They would take control of two airships and take them off-course.

They landed onto the vessel with a thud, then proceeding to find the control room.

Bakugo exploded the door before Kirishima used his hardening to 'accidentally' knock them out of the window. He watched them fall as Bakugo took control.

Despite never having worked an airship before, he managed to pick the controls up easily.

"What should we do about the rest of the crew?" Kirishima asked.

"The bottom of the ship opens up, right? Find a way to get them to the bomb bay." Bakugo ordered, steering the ship to the right.

The other took the ship's speaker and spoke into it.

"This is your captain speaking, there has been a security breach, please evacuate to the bomb bay immediately."

"You think that'll work?" Bakugo asked with one eyebrow raised.

Kirishima laughed before helping to steer the ship. After a few minutes, he opened the bomb bay, dropping the entire crew into the water, joining the members of the other airship - Sokka must have had the same idea.

"I'll go down to the engine room to fuel the ship. You head straight for Shitlord."

"Got it!" Kirishima turned the accelerater up and headed towards the airship that Ozai was standing on. It was very obviously of high importance, being golden, much larger and leading the rest of the ships.

He could see the Firelord's hand ignite as the comet reached its peak. A powerful current of fire headed for the ground, looking like a waterfall of flames. 

He watched in horror as the ground ignited, and he was unable to do anything in the airship.

Suddenly, he noticed some figures standing on top of a large rock.

"Aang and Midoriya!" he realised as he got closer. He could see his friends mop of green hair from this distance and Aang's vibrant robes stood out. 

The other airships aside from his and Sokka's sent identicle blasts, completely disintegrating the land below.

He took the ship speaker once more to give Bakugo a message.

"Katsuki, take down as much of the fleet as you can. I'll get Toph, Sokka and Suki out of here."

Bakugo grinned from his place in the engine room. He had been waiting for his chance to obliterate something since he arrived.

Luckily for them, the heat of the comet and the fleet's fire made for buckets of sweat, and plenty of fuel for him to use.

It didn't take long for him to find an exit in the ship, which he jumped out of. He let himself fall for a while before stabilising his position in the air.

He was both glad and a little disappointed that Aang had showed up, since he wanted to take down the Firelord himself, but this way would be more efficient. 

Once he made contact with one of the ships, he ignited his sweat, puncturing a significant hole into the side. At the very least it would throw off steering, if not bring the whole ship down. 

He could see Toph and Sokka on top of a vessel in the middle of the commotion, Toph bending the rudder of the ship to throw it off and slam into other ships. Bakugo landed next to them.

"Where's Suki?" Sokka pointed to the ship next to them, where they could clearly see Suki clinging on with all her strength. "I'll get her. You find Kirishima, he should be the only undamaged ship by the time I'm done with them."

Once again, he took off, using his explosions like engines. Suki was let onto his back, and as he flew her back to Kirishima, he blasted the ship that she had previously been stuck on.

It came crashing down mercilessly - if anyone survived the fall, he would be surprised. 

The second he dropped her off to safety, he wiped his brow to gather more sweat on his palms before returning to the active ships.

He landed on a platform to catch his breath for a moment when two Fire Nation soldiers appeared, ready to kill.

"If course things don't go fucking smoothly." he panted. Usually, he'd just attack them, however he'd used up a lot of his energy. Flying takes more effort than he'd like, so he was plain exhausted.

But this was the final undamaged enemy airship, and he was going to destroy it for all it took.

With the last of his energy, he set off one final explosion, completely obliterating the vessel, knocking him unconscious.

Everyone watched as he fell towards the ground, limp and motionless, knowing that there was nothing they could do. 

At the last moment, as if materialising from no where, Midoriya leaped forwards to catch his childhood friend from unquestionable death.

With Bakugo still in his arms, he made his way to the cliffside, away from harm.

He lay the other down, kneeling beside him.

"Kacchan?" he asked, not expecting an answer in his state. He carefully checked for a pulse in his neck; thankfully, it was beating at Bakugo's unnaturally fast pace still.

Feebly, he opened his eyes just a little.

"Damn... Deku... Where the hell... Were you?" he managed to get out, to the excitement of Midoriya.

"Thank fuck you're still okay... ish." relieved, he let go of all his breath at once, relaxing for the first time in what felt like hours.


	22. Chapter 22

"By decree of Phoenix King Ozai, I now crown you..." the Fire Sage trailed off as he spotted something in the distance.

Annoyed, Azula turned around to snap at him. Her hair was a mess - she had cut large chunks off, and it was carelessly tied in a ponytail on the side of her head. "What are you waiting for? Do it!"

When she turned back to face forwards, she saw her brother and two of his friends on that... Beast.

"Sorry, you're not going to become Firelord today. I am." Zuko said, jumping down off Appa.

Azula simply laughed.

"You're hilarious."

Katara and Todoroki followed Zuko onto the ground.

"And you're going down." they stood beside him, facing Azula. She signalled for the Fire Sages to leave as she stood up.

"You want to be Firelord? Fine. Let's settle this. Just you and me, brother. The showdown that was always meant to be. Agni Kai!"

Zuko glared at her before responding. "You're on."

Katara and Todoroki looked surprised at his answer.

"What are you doing? She's playing you by separating us!" Azula smirked when Katara said this.

"Even you admitted that you'd need help facing her. She's unhinged and merciless, we don't want you getting hurt." Todoroki tried to let them fight with him but Zuko wasn't having any of it.

"Exactly, she's unhinged. I can't tell just how but she's slipping."

Azula sloppily removed her royal cloak, revealing her usual battle armour underneath.

"I'm sorry it has to end this way, brother." she took her stance.

"No you're not."

She spins, sending a burst of magnificent blue flames towards Zuko. In return, he jumps forwards, blocking the fire with his own and redirecting it back at Azula.

She delivers a wall of flames, crashing with her brothers, creating an incredible clash of topaz and crimson, burning brighter than the sun.

When the wall collapsed, Azula kicked three or four times, each kick producing a flame more powerful than the last; Zuko managed to dodge each of them.

She sent one more blast in her brothers direction, which he absorbed with his own fire. In an attempt to get her to give up, he created a monstrous snake out of his flames, ordering it to attack.

Azula sloppily jumped out of the way, using her fire to steady herself. She slid across the ground, igniting everything in her wake. She circled around Zuko, sending blasts left, right and centre towards him.

He propelled himself upwards, cutting off her fire with his own. Spinning, he delivered a final blow, knocking Azula over and sending her flying.

Until then, the battle had been rather back and forth, with neither side particularly winning. Todoroki and Katara were watching from the side in awe. 

"No lightening today? What's the matter? Afraid I'll redirect it?" Zuko said as she found her feet.

"I'll show you lightening!" the look on Zuko's face quickly changed from smugness to dread as he realised his mistake.

Azula spun her arms around, generating electricity. She pointed her fingers towards her brother before smirking and changing her direction.

Katara's expression was filled with fear as the lightening approached her at incredible speeds. 

In a flash, Zuko appeared in the path of the lightening, redirecting it as he fell.

"Zuko!" she called, running over to him. He was lying on the ground, his body still twitching with electricity.

"I'll hold her off! You heal Zuko!" Todoroki told her, giving her some ice to use.

Azula had managed to regain her strength completely. "Sorry, only firebenders are allowed in Agni Kai."

He smirked and ignited his left hand. "Lucky me."

"Todoroki, no! You aren't affected by the comet and your left isn't as strong as your right!" Katara yelled, trying to persuade him out of the battle.

"If she doesn't want to play fair, neither will I." he used his ice to surf around her, blocking Azula in and sending fire at her in the center. He knew that it wouldn't take much for her to melt it, but it was still valuable extra time she'd need to spend.

She sent fire spiralling towards him, fully expecting him to be unable to dodge it - in a moments notice, he used his ice to launch himself to the other side of her.

Circling his left arm, he created a loop of fire which he directed at her. She expertly jumped through it, rolling when she hit the ground to break her fall.

"You can't get me that easily." she grinned menacingly, resuming her fighting position.

"No, but I can." Katara surfed into battle on Todoroki's ice, soaking Azula from head to toe, freezing her feet to the ground.

She ran towards the other, chain in her hand - she must have found it before she entered the Agni Kai.

Todoroki froze Azula's arms in place when her panic started setting in.

He watched Katara bind her up, he could clearly see the tears streaming down her face.

She screamed and cried out, her mental state still rapidly spiralling downwards. She weakly used her breath to firebend, as if calling for help, though no one would be coming to save her from falling further.

Todoroki couldn't help but watch in horror and pity as Katara and Zuko stood either side of him, neither of them saying a word.


	23. Chapter 23

Midoriya and Aang stood at the edge of the Earth Kingdom, watching the Firelord and his fleet of airships near.

The glanced at each other before departing for the battle.

Unlike Aang, Midoriya had no issue with having to fight Ozai, and so it was agreed that he would help in any way he could.

A great waterfall of fire fell from the leading vessel, flooding the land below with cinders and ash. This was obviously the ship that held the Firelord, as he was positioned at the very front, in his ceremonial gowns, searing the land. 

Aang kicked layers of rocks towards the fleet, hoping to land a hit on the main airship, rendering it useless. He managed to puncture the side, however not enough to do any serious damage.

The ship flew past them, allowing Ozai to get a good look at what he was dealing with. He noticeably scowled before tearing his robes off, lighting them on fire dramatically.

He used his firebending to fly him to get him to a rock opposite the two boys.

"The Avatar and the second airbender... Generations of Firelords have tried and failed to eliminate you, and the universe hands you to me as an act of providence." he shouts, glaring at them from his position.

"Please listen, we don't have to fight! You have the power to end it here and stop what you're doing!" Aang pleaded.

"That's right, I have the power! I have all the power in the world!" Ozai proclaimed, shooting fire in every direction he could. "I am the Phoenix King, ruler of the world!" 

Aang leaped around the flames, realising that he wasn't going to be able to talk his way out of a fight. He used earthbending to throw parts of the cliff at the Phoenix King - so he had called himself.

"Midoriya, find the others!" Aang called out to the other. He firmly nodded before running off to find everyone else.

He suspected they'd be on the airships, however he didn't know which ones, and it would be risky to take down any without being sure that his friends weren't inside it. 

He used the rocks that were just above sea level to jump off, however the further out he got, the harder these were to come by.

Pausing to breath for a moment, he glanced back at Aang and Ozai. They had been back and forth with fire, air, water, earth and more fire for minutes, neither of them gaining a particular advantage.

A blast of lightening could be seen for miles, clearly directed towards the Avatar.

"Aang!" Midoriya cried, rushing to help him, possibly fracturing a bone in the process. He saw the electricity redirected into the sky and Aang fall to the floor - he quickened his pace.

With a final leap, his fist made contact with the Phoenix King's face, knocking him off his rock giving time for Aang to regain balance.

"Are you alright?" he asked, helping him up.

"Never better. I think Sokka and the others got control of the airships." Aang gestured to the fleet, which was in commotion with itself.

"Be careful." Midoriya warned before going back to find everyone else. 

He noticed something in the distance, jumping from ship to ship, the damage usually following the figure.

"Kacchan!" he exclaimed to himself. He continued to watch the other destroying the vessels until he saw him dropping from an exploding airship, limp and unconscious.

"Kacchan!" he repeated, calling out as he leaped forwards to catch his falling friend. 

He caught Bakugo in his arms, hurriedly taking him to stable ground, out of the way of the battle. 

"Please be alive, please be alive, please be alive." he whispered, laying him down carefully. "Kacchan?" 

He didn't expect an answer, however he still asked. 

Checking the others pulse, he could feel it beating harsh against his neck, but his skin was perfectly dry. He had used all of his possible power to destroy the final airship, risking his life in the process. 

Like a lamb opening it's eyes for the first time, Bakugo woke up just enough to see who had saved him. 

"Damn... Deku... Where the hell... Were you?" he struggled out, coughing slightly. 

"Thank fuck you're still okay... ish." Midoriya was grateful that he had made it out in one piece, even if his body was covered in scratches from flying debris.

"What's Aang doing?" Bakugo's head had rolled over to face Aang and Ozai's fight.

Aang's tattoos and eyes were glowing blue, he looked furious, slamming Ozai about like he was a doll. 

"He's in the Avatar State!" Midoriya realised aloud. He'd heard about the Avatar State from when he was exploring the Western Air Temple, however he'd never seen it until now. 

They watched Aang easily hold Ozai down at the very top of the cliff with earth, his wrists and feet trapped.

He started to send all of the elements hurling at the monster before him, however he let them go at the last second, releasing Ozai from his grip and leaving the Avatar State.

Seizing the opportunity to attack again, the Phoenix King tried to send a blast of fire towards Aang, however he was stopped, hands once again bound by earth. 

Aang took a step towards Ozai, placing a hand on his forehead and heart. Suddenly, a blast of light, red and blue emerged from their eyes and mouth, illuminating the area.

The red light surrounded the blue as if it were eating it up. The blue light pounced back, erasing the red completely.

As quickly as it appeared, the light disappeared, as Ozai flopped onto the floor.

Kirishima landed the airship that he was on next to Aang; Suki, Sokka and Toph jumped out.

"Is he... You know..." Suki asked, referring to the ex Firelord. He grunted and moved slightly as if to attack before giving up completely. This caused the trio to jump, as they were expecting him to be dead.

"I've taken his bending away. He can't use it to hurt anyone else." Aang explained as Kirishima appeared.

"You can do that?"

"I can now." they laughed childishly as Ozai watched, knowing that he wouldn't stand a chance against them without his firebending.


	24. Chapter 24

"You okay?" Midoriya asked the others as they prepared for Zuko's coronation a day later. 

He and Kirishima managed to get out of the war rather unscathed. Todoroki was mostly fine with a few burns here and there. Bakugo was the most injured, being in crutches - he was told not to stand up too much though (he ignored this instruction as much as he could).

"I've never taken this long to be healed before. It sucks ass." he complained.

"Remember to thank Recovery Girl next time we see her." Kirishima laughed, helping Bakugo up.

They met up with Katara and Sokka in the plaza who were standing next to their dad and the Kyoshi Warriors.

"You guys look great!" Katara said, giving each of them a hug. They were wearing outfits that had been styled to look like their hero costumes, however they matched the clothes of the rest of the world better.

The crowd quietened down as the curtains at the front opened. Zuko appeared, donned in ceremonial robes, his hair tied back. The Fire Sages struck the gongs for a final time while the crowd cheered to him.

"Please. The real hero is the Avatar." Zuko spoke once the crowd was silent again. Aang walked out of the Palace, triggering another round of applause. 

"Today this war is finally over! I promised my uncle that I would restore the honor of the Fire Nation. And I will. The road ahead of us is challenging. A hundred years of fighting has left the world scarred and divided. But with the Avatar's help, we can get it back on the right path and begin a new era of love and peace." he knelt down, ready to be crowned the new Firelord.

A Fire Sage approached him from behind, holding a flashy golden hairpin. He places the pin into his hair, making it official.

"All hail Firelord Zuko!" he said as Zuko stood up. The crowed screamed, celebrating their new Firelord and their new world.

~~~~~

"Well done, Zuko!" everyone congratulated him when they met up after the coronation.

"Thanks guys, but you know I wouldn't be here without you too." he said, giving out hugs to everyone (Bakugo couldn't protest properly since he was injured). 

"Speaking of not being here, how is your lightening wound holding up? You're lucky to have survived that." Todoroki asked.

"It's fine, definitely going to scar though. What's another one gonna do?" he chuckled slightly at the reply, leaving everyone else kind of shocked that he'd make a joke like that.

Just then, a girl with a relatively plain expression and black hair tied into two buns walked in.

"Hey." she said.

"Mai!" Kirishima recognised her as the girl who saved them at the Boiling Rock - Zuko's girlfriend.

"This is Mai." Zuko introduced her to the gang. "Mai, this is Aang, Katara, Sokka, Suki, Toph, Todoroki, Midoriya, Kirishima and Bakugo."

She gave a small wave to them before she left with Zuko.

Suki and Sokka also left - they wanted to spend time together at the festival that had been thrown in honour of the coronation and end of the war.

Toph was excited to snoop around the Palace, which she dragged Bakugo and Kirishima off to do. Katara followed them to make sure they didn't get into too much trouble. They couldn't get banished from the Fire Nation less than a day after they were allowed back in it. Todoroki followed just to watch Katara try to keep them in line.

"Midoriya?" Aang said once everyone had gone. "How are you going to get home?"

"I think... I think the lion turtle gave me the power when it gave you the power to take bending away." Midoriya answered. "Quite frankly, I don't want to go back just yet. There's still so much to see!"

"Is there no one you miss?" Aang sat down next to him.

"There are my friends, Uraraka and Iida, and my mom and All Might. I can still speak to All Might, but I haven't seen the rest of them in ages." Midoriya thought of his life back in Japan. It seemed closer than ever but still so far away.

"Maybe if you have the ability to leave, you'll keep the ability to switch between worlds, and you can visit whenever you want." Aang suggested hopefully.

"When I pass on my power, I wonder if they'll have it as well." Midoriya went to write it down before being stopped by Aang.

"If you do, I hope you visit us again, and I hope to meet your successor as well." he smiled before they joined the others at the festival.


	25. Chapter 25

The gang was sat in a hut in the Southern Water Tribe with mugs of hot chocolate keeping them warm.

"Your home is beautiful." Todoroki said to Katara and Sokka, sipping his drink.

"Thanks. You should see the Northern Water Tribe though." Katara replied.

"I should, shouldn't I?" Toph said sarcastically, earning a laugh from the rest of them.

"Do you ever wonder what we'd be doing if we were at home?" Kirishima asked, moving closer to Bakugo (he was one of the few who didn't have to wear a big coat in the South Pole temperature, and he and Toph were taking full advantage of that). 

"Well its 2pm on a Tuesday, so we'd probably be in English right now." Todoroki answered.

"We haven't been to school in a month." Midoriya realised, taking a sip of his hot chocolate. "We're going to be so behind."

"Maybe you will be. I won't." Bakugo said obnoxiously as usual.

"We haven't seen any of our other friends in a month." Kirishima sounded sad as he said this.

"Bummer, much?" Toph commented, gaining a flick on the forehead from Bakugo.

"I think it's time that you guys went home." Aang said. "We love you guys, and we love having you around, but I can tell that you want to go back."

Katara nodded before adding on.

"Aang is right. Since the comet, there hasn't been anything else to concentrate on, and you guys seem really down. I think it's because you keep thinking of home."

Midoriya, Todoroki, Bakugo and Kirishima looked at each other. They all knew that Katara and Aang were correct, but truthfully, they didn't fully want to leave either.

They had made a life for themselves here, despite longing to go home.

"I agree." Todoroki said.

"One more day?" Midoriya asked the others. They nodded. Tomorrow, they would go home.

~~~~~

The heroes stood in a line, waiting for Midoriya to finish saying goodbye to the others.

"This is it. Are you ready?" Aang said when they were all in place.

Midoriya took a deep breath, focusing all his energy on getting home. He could feel his feet tingling, like they were already leaving the rest of his body. The sensation travelled up his legs, capturing more and more of him.

The feeling advanced through Todoroki and Kirishima, and lastly, Bakugo. They saw the gang slowly fade out of vision, and the familiar sight of the UA dorms replace them.

"We're back!" Midoriya exclaimed. "We're actually back!"

"C'mon, lets go find the rest of class!" Kirishima called, dragging Bakugo along to meet the rest of their friends. 

They eventually found them outside, at Ground Beta training. By request of Bakugo, they entered with flair, sneaking to the back of the facility before taking down a practice robot that was about to attack Kaminari.

"Surprise bitch." he said, looking his friend dead in the eyes.

"You're back!" Kaminari cried, rushing up to them to give them all a hug. From there, he abandoned the training exercise to drag them to Aizawa, who looked at them and sighed.

"Guess my time of relative silence is up."

"Hello to you too." Bakugo said, just loud enough for the teacher to hear (needless to say, if looks could kill, he'd be dead).

Aizawa stopped the exercise for the rest of the class, who emerged from the area confused, until they saw their missing classmates.

Midoriya, Todoroki, Kirishima and even Bakugo were overwhelmed by everyone welcoming them back. They were told they could have the rest of the period off to catch up with their friends, but they'd have an extra lesson after school to get back on track.

By lunch, Midoriya and Todoroki were sat at the table with Uraraka, Iida and Tsuyu. 

Todoroki was showing them some photos he took with the gang - somehow his battery life had lasted a month on 20%. 

"Sounds like you guys had fun!" Uraraka said. She was extremely glad to get her friends back, the class was just too different without them.

Midoriya nodded vigorously. "We did!"

Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted All Might standing in the corner of the cafeteria. He knew this meant he had to go speak to him; they hadn't spoken since the lion turtle.

"I need to go. I'll see you 5th." he said, standing up to leave.

Once he found All Might, he was greeted with a warm hug.

"Young Midoriya, I've been worried sick. Still nothing compared to your mother, though."

Midoriya couldn't help but let out a tear or two.

"I'm glad to be back."


End file.
